The Fire Lord
by Haliaetus
Summary: HieixOC When a new girl is brought into the Spirit Detectives' mansion, she brings a whole lot more than a simple presence. Can the group deal with the consequences of her true identity and survive? Sequel to Roses for a Queen. AdventureRomance. Revived.
1. Prologue

A/N: Well, I'm back from camp, so here is the promised sequel to _Roses for a Queen._ This is just the prologue, so it's a little short, but I didn't want to tack on another whole chapter to make it longer, so deal with it. Anyway, I have no ownage of YuYu Hakusho. Believe me; you'd know if I did.

All that aside, please enjoy the following story. For those of you reading this before reading _Roses for a Queen_, please understand that although this _is_ a sequel to that story, it _can_ be read as a stand-alone, though some things will make more sense if it is read after _Roses for a Queen_.

I can't think of anything else, so please read and I hope you enjoy it!

* * *

-Prologue-

My name is unknown even to myself.

All of my memories from the time I was old enough to remember anything to the day I turned fifteen are gone.

For the past year, I've gone by the name Tori, which means 'bird'. An old man I met that ill-fated day gave it to me, my only present and one with mixed blessings. His face and voice are all I can remember from my birthday.

I don't believe in God or gods, but if I did, I would certainly think that I must have done something terrible to deserve such a fate. I don't go to school like other kids my age; no school would want me once they saw me, anyway. My waist-length, dark auburn hair and odd, amber and blue eyes turn everyone who sees me away. I've tried dying my hair, but it doesn't stick.

Nothing else works.

Besides all of these hardships, I do pretty well for a sixteen-year-old girl on her own. The place I stay at doesn't ask too many questions and it's dry and safe; it's all I need. Food I get from the leftovers from restaurants and other food stores. I never knew that they threw away such good food at places like those. I've taught myself several basic self-defense moves, so I can protect myself in the case of an assault, but I haven't had a chance to put what I've learned to the test; no one wants to mess with someone who looks so odd, anyway.

Any family I might have had I don't remember. Whatever there was of my old life has been erased; I know no other life besides the one I know now. It doesn't matter to me. All I want to do is survive and I've done a pretty good job at it so far.

I don't need anyone else.

* * *

A/N: Short, wasn't it? Yeah, I know. The rest of the chapters will be much longer, don't worry. Anyway, we have now been introduced to Tori, the main protagonist of this story. Again, don't worry; she's not actually as angsty as I made her out to be here and she doesn't stay there for long anyway.

Quick note. This story takes place a full two years after the Chikara incident, so all characters have changed to reflect that, though there may not seem to be much of a difference, especially in Hiei and Botan, as they aren't even remotely human. Thus, Li is about seventeen or eighteen, if that helps your mindset any. Also changed is Hiei's height. He is no longer quite as short as he is in _Roses for a Queen._ In fact, I have officially decided (as in, in the last few seconds) that he has had a massive growth spurt of about four inches, putting him somewhere in the lower half of the five foot range (something like five foot three). nodnod Yup, that should do. Tori is also short for her age, so she's a bit shorter than Hiei is, which makes for much better romantic scenes.

Well, enough gabbering on my part. You'll be wanting the first actual chapter and I should probably give it to you. So, see ya!

Haliaetus


	2. Revelations

A/N: Unless otherwise noted, this story is from Tori's POV, though I _will_ bring in other POVs to show the others' perspectives.

Disclaimer still applies. Why wouldn't it?

Yay for long chapters. As in, ten pages on Word. Yeah. Just read, 'kay?

* * *

I woke up to the loud bell of a train that was crossing the tracks near the place I stayed. Sitting up, I peered groggily at the clock hung on the wall opposite from where my bed was. Groaning as the time registered in my mind, I flopped back down on the pile of blankets that made up my bed. 6:41 was way too early to be getting up.

I closed my eyes again, hoping sleep would reclaim me, but all I got was the loud flush of the toilet down the hall as one of the other tenants answered nature's call. Finally resigned to being awake, I propped myself up again and reached out to drag a clean set of clothes over to the bed, loathe to feeling the cold cement floor with my bare feet. Only after I was completely dressed did I ease out of my cocoon of blankets.

Even with my socks on, I still winced as the burning cold seared my feet. Hurriedly I slipped on my shoes and grabbed a hairband. Putting my hair up as I walked down the hall, I nodded to the man who was returning from his bathroom visit. He didn't return my nod, but I wasn't really expecting one; for the most part, the others that were staying here ignored my presence, acting as if I wasn't even there. As I walked out the front door, I sent a wave to the clerk behind the scuffed desk, knowing she'd note that I was leaving even if she didn't turn her head to acknowledge me.

Outside, I stretched and surveyed the neighborhood around me. The section of town I was staying in was not the best, but it certainly wasn't the worst. Turning to the left, I started down the street, tucking my hands deep into my pockets and adopting the casual stroll I used when I was outside in public.

I made it to one of the more populated areas of the city before I even saw someone I recognized and when I did, I almost wished I hadn't. The boy I saw leaning against the brick wall a short ways down the street was no other than Yusuke Urameshi, rumored to be the toughest punk at Sarayashiki Junior High. The rumors told me that the other punks in the area left him alone, for fear of getting a beating they'd never forget. There were also rumors that he'd died and come back to life, but I had discarded those as nonsense. How could anyone come back to life once they died? I hadn't had the opportunity to talk to him personally, to see if the rumors were true, but then, I had no desire to do so, either. Hoping he wouldn't see me, I continued to walk on down the street, avoiding looking at him directly.

Just as I drew even with him, though, my hopes went sailing out the window as I heard him call out. "Hey! Girl!" I turned slowly to face him and watched in trepidation as he pushed off the wall and came towards me. Another boy I hadn't seen earlier came with him. I considered turning and running, but even if I had wanted to, I couldn't; my legs were locked with fear and wouldn't respond.

Then he was standing right I front of me and I didn't have any more time to consider any other plans. He casually looked me over, as did his tall friend, and I tried to return his gaze as coolly as I could. "I've heard rumors that you're…different." He said after a moment. I found my voice and answered him, trying to keep the tremors out of it.

"I don't know what rumors you're talking about." It was the truth, I hadn't been aware that there were rumors about me at all until he had said so. Urameshi's eyebrow went up.

"They say you can…do things to people." My eyes narrowed in sudden suspicion. I didn't use my…techniques…all that often and I always made sure no one was watching. If anyone found out that I was able to tell what people were thinking if I tried, I'd be whisked away to a circus somewhere to be gawked at by billions of people. That or kept closed away by some paranoid rich freak for his personal gain. Nothing could be worse for me.

"Again, I don't know what you're talking about." I replied, the lie coming easily to my tongue. Lies had been a major part of surviving for the past year and I had progressed to such a level that I could even fool the old man who lived in the room next to mine. Urameshi's other eyebrow joined the first in a doubtful arc.

"Hmm. What do you think, Kuwabara?" He addressed the other boy for the first time. I glanced at him. He was a tall boy, with bright orange hair and a pug-ugly face. He seemed kind of familiar, but when I tried to figure out why, I came up with a blank. He narrowed his eyes as he looked at me.

"Huh." He said finally. "I don't know, Yusuke; I can't tell. Bet Li, Kurama or Hiei could, though." Urameshi nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, you're probably right." He seemed to be thinking for a moment, then gave me a rather disconcerting grin. "Bet they'd want to meet her, too." Kuwabara seemed to get a joke I hadn't heard, because he grinned and nodded.

"Yeah, bet they would." I glanced back and forth between them, not sure what they were talking about, but pretty sure it wasn't something good. I was so busy thinking about this that I didn't notice Urameshi's clenched hand until it was halfway to my head and then I didn't have any time to react. The next scene I saw was blackness.

When I finally swam up out of the blackness, the first thing that returned was my hearing. All around me there were several people and I could distinguish about four different male voices and two girls. One of the boys, I thought it was Urameshi, was talking.

"But, Kurama! She wouldn't have come with us if I hadn't!" That was definitely Urameshi. The answering voice I assumed was the person Urameshi had called Kurama.

"That still didn't give you a right to hit her, Yusuke." Kurama's voice was slightly deeper and had a softer quality to it that Urameshi's lacked. Kuwabara decided to pipe up at that point, supporting Urameshi.

"Yeah, Kurama, even if we had asked her, she still wouldn't have come." I heard Kurama sigh, but the voice that spoke next wasn't his.

"Would you bakas shut up?" The voice sounded kind of like Kurama's, but it had an edge to it that probably would have cut steel and there was no hint of kindness in his voice. Both Urameshi and Kuwabara squealed as something swished through the air. A girl's voice sounded from next to me.

"All of you shut up! You're distracting Yukina from her work." I instantly liked the voice; the girl had just the right amount of steel and softness to make anyone jump to obey her or to make anyone trust her. The boys immediately fell quiet with muttered apologies.

"Sorry, Li."

"Sorry, Li."

"…Sorry." The only one who didn't apologize was Kurama. Another girl's voice came from right above me, this time a soft, almost feather-like, sound.

'Thank you, Li." This girl I assumed was Yukina. As she spoke, I felt light hands touching my head and a wonderful coolness that spread throughout my skull, which I had just realized had been hurting like heck. Finally, I could open my eyes and when I did, I saw a girl, Yukina I assumed, looking at me with a concerned expression. When she saw I was awake, she smiled at me and sat back up. "She's awake now, but don't speak too loudly, I don't want to have to repair her eardrums as well." Everyone else nodded and crowded around my bed to introduce him or herself.

Kurama turned out to be a fairly tall guy with long red hair, emerald eyes and a kind smile. Li turned out to be actually Li-Sanya, but she insisted on being called Li and she kept on messing with a strand of her long, golden hair. The other boy I didn't know was Hiei--Li told me when it became apparent that he wasn't going to introduce himself--and he had spiky black hair, intense red eyes and was carrying a sword. Unlike the others, he didn't do anything except give me a rather odd glance before turning back to look out the window where he had stayed. Yukina had long light blue hair and red eyes that matched Hiei's. I wondered briefly if they were related. One of the two people I couldn't place a voice with was Keiko, a brunette with inquisitive dark eyes, seeing as she hadn't spoken until now. The other was introduced as Botan and I had a hard time keeping myself from staring at her (also blue like Yukina's, but a much brighter shade) hair. All of them seemed to be older than I was, though not by much for some. Once they finished introducing themselves, Urameshi asked me my name, causing my tentative smile to disappear.

I was quiet a moment before I answered, not looking any of them in the eye. "I don't know what my name is." I told them quietly. They stared at me. Keiko piped up.

"Do you not have a name?" She asked, not in a mean way, just curious. I shook my head.

"I had a name at one time, but now I can't remember what it was. Someone I knew called me Tori, though, so I've been using that name." I didn't catch the odd glance Hiei sent my way again because I was staring at the bed covers, but I did catch the fairly awkward silence that followed my statement. Looking up curiously, I saw that they were all looking at Hiei, who was now staring at me. I stared right back at him, not intimidated by his glare. Suddenly, I heard his voice in my head.

_Who are you?_ My eyes went wide with surprise. As far as I knew, no one could talk telepathically, even me, but Hiei had done just that. Hiei frowned and repeated his question. _Who are you?_

By now, everyone had caught on that there was something going on between Hiei and I and they were now looking back and forth between us. I tried to answer the boy in the same way and I must have succeeded because his eyes went wide.

_I don't know what you're talking about._ His surprise lasted only a split second before his face resumed its former glare.

_It's a simple question, baka onna._ He answered. _Who are you?_ I frowned, but it was in concentration, not in anger.

_I don't…remember…_ I said finally, after having scoured my brain for an answer. Hiei's frown grew deeper.

_May I?_ I didn't know what he was asking permission for, but I nodded anyway. A second later, I began to remember things I hadn't remembered in a long time as the memories rose unbidden to the front of my mind.

_A pair of blurry faces…laughter…hands showing me how to do something…"Like this, Kaminari!"…The discovery of my hands glowing…the fire…smells of burning flesh and hair…strong hands picking me up off the ground…crying…"Mama! Da!"…Red eyes…the feeling of safety…a voice asking me if I was alright…something about no memories…an old man calling me Tori…_

I gasped as Hiei loosened his hold on my mind and freed me from the trip down memory lane. Everyone immediately looked at me but I ignored them, my attention focused on Hiei. I stared at him, looking him in the eye. Those red eyes, now familiar, stared back at me. I barely registered Li sitting down on the edge of the bed and asking me if I was all right. I nodded, but my attention wasn't on her.

_You…you saved my life…_ I felt like a two-ton boulder had just hit me. Everything except Hiei seemed to be unreal, not really there, like in a dream. Except, I knew this was no dream.

_…I…I guess I did…_ He didn't sound like it was something he usually even thought about doing. I took a deep breath and closed my eyes, hoping to make everything stop spinning. I felt a feather touch on the edge of my consciousness.

_Here_. A delicious wave of coolness swept through my mind, leaving it clearer and more focused. _And…don't say anything about this to the others, please_. I nodded distractedly, turning to look at Li's concerned face.

"I think…I think I need to rest for a while…" I said, not having to fake the dazed tone. Li nodded and stood up, looking at me in an odd way. She shepherded the others out of the room with minimal fuss and was going to force Hiei out as well, but he must have told her something, because she stopped and nodded before turning back around and closing the door behind her. I lay back on the soft pillows, absentmindedly comparing them to the thin, lumpy ones I was used to.

What Hiei had shown me were memories from before my fifteenth birthday, from the time I couldn't remember. Though they had been incomplete, they told me more than I had known before. I had had a family and people who cared about me. My name wasn't Tori; it was Kaminari, though I found I preferred the former when I tried it out. Sighing, I closed my eyes; everything had gone so fast, it was hard to keep up with everything that was happening. Seeing Urameshi, getting knocked out, meeting everyone here, learning about my past, or some of it anyway, and finding out that I knew one of the people I had never met before.

Something settling on the bed made me crack one eye open. I looked up at Hiei's closed face, wondering if he ever showed any emotion besides anger for more than two seconds. Hesitantly, I reached out to touch his shoulder. He caught my wrist just before I touched him, gripping it tightly.

"Don't…touch me." He said quietly, not looking at me. I pulled my hand back and he let it go, his arm dropping back to his side again. Looking around the room, anywhere except at him, I took a deep breath and let it out, unable to think of anything to say. When my gaze finally came back to Hiei, I was surprised to find him looking at me with an odd expression on his face.

His hand reached out slowly as if he was going to brush something away, but just as he was going to touch my cheek, he pulled back and looked away. I frowned slightly, not understanding.

"What are you doing to me?" He muttered so low that I barely heard him. Then he turned back to me, his eyes full of confusion. "You're not normal…" He whispered, almost to himself. I tried to search his face for clues as to what he was thinking, but it remained impassive. "You're anything but normal…not human, but not really demon, either…" My confusion deepened; I had no idea what he was talking about.

"Hiei…? What are you talking about?" I was starting to feel a bit uncomfortable and I started to reach out to touch him, to bring him back to his senses, then remembered that he had said not to. I withdrew my hand, but he wasn't paying attention.

"Talking about…? She doesn't know…? No, she doesn't know…" He was making even less sense than ever, now. Disregarding what he had said, I reached out again, this time more surely and grasped his shoulder, shaking him slightly.

"Hiei! Stop it; you're making no sense at all!" I kept my voice to a low hiss, but it seemed to get to him. He started and stared at me for a second before he seemed to realize what he was doing. Ignoring my hand on his shoulder, if he knew it was there at all, he put a hand to his forehead and closed his eyes.

"I'm sorry." He said finally, glancing up at me from under his hand. "I don't know what happened…yes, I do. I went into a Fire Trance. I'm sorry. It won't happen again." He started to get up, but I pressed down on his shoulder, making him sit again. He looked at me in surprise. I raised an eyebrow at him, ignoring the part of me that was drowning in the flood of new things.

"Not so fast. First, you're going to explain just what a 'fire trance' is and then you're going to explain why I'm not normal." I put a little steel in my voice to show him I meant it, forcing my heart to stop beating so loudly. He sighed and bit his lip. Despite his apparent uncertainty, I got the feeling that if he had really wanted to, he could have left right then and I would have been powerless to stop him. It wasn't the most reassuring thought.

"A fire trance is… a state in which fire demons can sometime foretell the future, tell someone something about themselves, or other such stuff." He took a deep breath, but something occurred to me and I held up a hand to stop him.

"Fire demons?" I asked, starting to wonder if Hiei was just plain crazy. "You mentioned demons before, when you were talking about me not being normal." I frowned. "Are you saying demons actually exist?" He sighed again and rubbed his forehead, as if I was giving him a headache.

"Yes, demons exist and before you ask, yes, I am a demon, a fire demon." He looked at me again. "Do you want me to answer the question or not?" I nodded mutely, more than a little startle by this revelation. "Fine. Now, a fire trance comes unbidden and demons can't control it once it happens. They don't always remember what they say either. Lucky for you, I do." I blinked, willing him to get on with it. "When I said you weren't normal, I meant that you weren't human but you weren't fully demon. In fact, I have no idea what you are." He paused and seemed to get an idea, because his eyebrows went up slightly. "But…I'll bet I know someone who does or can find out." He glanced at me. "Stay here a moment; I'll be right back."

He got up and left, then, and I didn't stop him this time. As I watched him go, I got the feeling that he didn't normally talk this much to anybody; he'd seemed rather withdrawn and terse when the others had been in the room. Then he was gone and I leaned back, thinking about what he'd said. He'd been talking about demons, had said that he was a demon himself. I frowned. Was he serious? Demons didn't really exist, did they? Then again, there was the fact that he could speak telepathically. Thinking about that, it occurred to me that _I_ had been talking telepathically, too, when I knew that it was impossible. If they did exist, were any of the others demons? Botan and Yukina both had had blue hair and it hadn't looked like they had dyed it. Then there were Hiei's red eyes. Rolling over, I buried my face in the pillow, more confused now than when Hiei had started to 'explain' things.

Footsteps outside the closed door alerted me to Hiei's return and by the sound of it, he wasn't alone. To my surprise, when he opened the door, Li followed him inside, carrying a large, red leather book. I stared at it curiously, wondering what it was. Hiei stopped by the bedside and pointed to me while addressing Li.

"She's not from the Ningenkai and she's not completely demon." He said shortly. "What is she?" Li frowned at his tone, but obediently sat down on the bed and peered at me shortsightedly.

"Hmm, you're right." She said, sounding surprised. Hiei just growled and rolled his eyes as if she'd pointed out the obvious. "Let's see…no human blood…demon blood in there…dragon if I'm not mistaken…and…" Here she frowned. "That's odd…I don't recognize that." Pulling the leather bound volume in front of her, she took a good last look at me then turned to focus on the book. Embossed in gold lettering, the title of the book was written in curving script that made it hard to read upside down. Even so, I managed to make out 'Guide', 'Makai', 'Persons', and 'Therein.' Even more confused, I watched as she unlatched a simple buckle that held the book closed. She muttered something and the book glowed for a second before returning to normal. My eyes went wide in shock; books didn't usually glow, no matter what you did to them. Maybe Hiei's talk about demons was true after all.

The book's cover lifted as if in an invisible wind and several pages flipped as well. It finally settled on what looked to me like a blank page, though Li was staring at it as if it actually had words on it. She traced lines invisible to me with a finger until she came to something that seemed to shock her. Slowly, she looked up at me, her eyes full of awe. Closing the book without looking at it, she reached out to touch my cheek, as if to make sure I was really there. Next to the bed, Hiei was practically out of his mind with impatience.

"Well? What did it say?" He asked quickly. Li turned to look at him, then back at me and addressed him while still looking at me.

"She's half demon and half…this is the weird part…half elemental." Hiei froze and stared at her incredulously.

"Elemental?" He echoed, as if it was the craziest thing he'd ever heard. I looked back and forth between them, not sure what they were talking about except that it had to do with me. "Which one?"

"Fire."

* * *

A/N: Dang, that's a lot of action in one chapter. Not only does she get abducted and have memories uncovered, she gets told she's not even human. What a day. I'm certainly glad I'm not her, though in a way, she _is_ me...I really need some sleep. 

Thus ends the first chapter in _The Fire Lord_. Hoped you enjoyed it. Be on the lookout for the next chapter in the next few days.

Haliaetus


	3. Memories

A/N: Here's chap 2! It's from Li's POV at the beginning, so all you Li-Sanya fans can all cheer (told you she'd play a fairly major part). Again, a lot of action in this one, but try to keep up with it, although this first part doesn't have much to do with the actual plotline beyond setting everything up.

So, now that I've said that, time for the (not much-needed) disclaimer. You'd know it if I owned YuYu Hakusho, mainly because Li-Sanya would probably be in it at some point. Yup. I just love her character that much. Not to say I don't like the others, but Li's just kinda special to me...

Aw, dang. I just realized that I'm going to have the same problem that I had in _Roses for a Queen_ with the mindspeech. I'm going to have to edit the previous chapter...hold tight while I do that, 'kay? Hopefully, it'll be fixed in this one...

* * *

(Li-Sanya's POV)

I stared at the girl who was sitting in front of me with an extremely confused expression on her face. Absentmindedly, I ran a finger over the smooth surface of the book I held in my hands. _Jesa's Guide to the Makai and the Artifacts and Persons Found Therein_ had never led me wrong so far, but somehow, I got the feeling that it wasn't quite right on this. There was no way Tori could be half dragon demon and half fire elemental. It just wasn't possible. Except that the contrary evidence was sitting right in front of me.

I glanced at Hiei, who was standing there looking at me, still shocked at my revelation about what Tori was. Deciding that he wasn't in a position to explain everything, I decided to do so instead.

Taking a deep breath, I looked Tori in the eye. "This book is a magical guide to the Makai, the demon world, and it contains every person that lives or comes from there and all of the magical artifacts that have been made there." I waited for her nod before continuing. "What I just did was look up your entry, because I knew that you had no human blood in you, meaning you couldn't have been from the Ningenkai, the human world, in the first place." Tori's nod was a bit more hesitant this time. "What it said was that you are half dragon demon and half fire elemental. What that means is that one of your parents was a dragon demon and the other was a fire elemental." She nodded her understanding of the concept, but I could see the start of a frown start to knit her brows and got the feeling that she didn't really know what I was talking about. Guessing at her question before she could ask, I continued. "An elemental is not a demon. It's more of a sentient being that has complete control over whichever element it is, fire, water, earth or air." She nodded, but the frown didn't disappear.

"So… that means I have control over fire?" She asked, her tone largely devoid of any emotion though I could see that this revelation had had a rather large effect on her. I nodded.

"That's right. And your demon blood means you have special powers that are uniquely yours. Unfortunately, I'm afraid that we can't help you discover what those powers are, considering that none of the people staying in this house are elementals or dragon demons." Tori blinked and looked down at the bedcovers, tracing one of the designs on it with a finger. The frown on her face seemed to be from concentration, not anger, as if she was trying to remember something. I had to admit, though, she was taking it a whole lot better than I had expected her to. She had probably thought that she was human for her whole life, so this would be a major shock.

Finally, she looked back up. Instead of addressing me, though, she turned to Hiei, as if she was expecting him to have the answer to her question for some reason. Again, I wondered what exactly had gone on between them earlier, when she had revealed that she didn't remember her name, that she would feel so comfortable asking him about something. She seemed to trust him, which surprised me for the amount of time she had known him, especially when I considered his normally volatile nature.

She didn't say anything aloud, but I saw Hiei's still startled expression change to one of concentration, so I assumed they were speaking telepathically. Being left out of the conversation, however, was rather irritating, so I carefully insinuated a tendril of thought into Tori's mind, knowing Hiei would immediately sense my presence in his mind.

_Can you do it?_ Tori's voice had an almost pleading quality to it and I wondered what she was asking him to do, while at the same time wondering how she had learned to speak this way. It had taken me several years to perfect the ability to simply touch another's mind, let alone speak to them. Hiei frowned.

_Of course I can._ He retorted, crossing his arms. _Whether or not I will is the question._ Tori bit her lip and looked down.

_I have to know._ She replied softly. _I have to know whether or not I caused it._ I could feel Hiei's resistance almost palpably disappear. Surprised, I glanced at him, wondering why he was so…I couldn't quite find the word to describe what I was seeing in him, but it was so totally un-Hiei-like that I was shocked.

_…Fine._ He gave in and sighed. _Now, relax; if you tense up, I won't be able to access the memories._ This also startled me. Hiei was going to access Tori's memories? I hadn't known it was even possible. Not for the first time, I wondered where Hiei had traveled before he met Kurama. I watched as Tori nodded and lay back, closing her eyes. Hiei came closer to the bed and reached out to put a light finger on the middle of her forehead. As far as I could see, they had both forgotten that I was there, so I stood up and let the fire demon have some space to do whatever he was going to do.

Tori had already ceased to be a real part of this world, having withdrawn deeper into herself, but Hiei was still fully here. I watched as he looked down at her for a moment. "Why do I do this for you?" He asked himself in a soft voice. Then he sighed and closed his eyes as well.

(Tori's POV)

I found myself drifting in blackness, the bedroom around me fading away. No longer could I hear or feel anything from that world; I had gone someplace else, somewhere where I was alone. No, not quite alone; as I tried to peer through the darkness, I thought I could make out the figure of someone standing next to me. Whenever I tried to look at them directly, I lost their outline, but I could see them at the edge of my vision. As I tried to see my invisible companion, I wondered what was taking Hiei so long.

Then I felt the now familiar brush of his mind against mine and I stopped trying to see whoever it was that was next to me in anticipation of what would happen next. I wasn't given much time to think about it though, just Hiei's brief, Hold on. to prepare me. A split second later, the darkness began to dissipate, lifting like a stage curtain to show a new scene…

_I was looking at a large house, easily big enough to house two or three families at the same time. Out on the large, green lawn in front of the house, I could see a couple of young girls playing with something I couldn't quite make out. The scene zoomed in so I could see who they were. To my surprise, I found myself looking at what was undeniably a younger version of myself. It was then that I knew that this was definitely from my past. From appearances, I'd say that it was about seven years ago, when I had been eight._

_The other girl seemed to be a bit younger than the little me, with short, black hair and dancing hazel eyes. She was laughing and the sound of her laugh reminded me of the sound a quick-running creek made as it leaped over the stones in its bed. Holding up a fist sized blue stone, she held it out to my younger self. Just before the auburn-haired girl took it, though, the other girl laughed again and the stone started to glow and rise into the air. The younger me looked startled for a moment, but then, she too laughed. Grabbing a ruby-colored stone of the same size, she stared at it, biting her lip in concentration. To my surprise, small flames started to lick around the base of the stone and up the sides to cover the whole stone. Laughing, she showed it to her friend, who nodded and smiled._

_The scene warped suddenly, showing me the same place, but at night. I watched as several dark figures made their way over the moonlit grass to the front of the house. One of the windows had been left open and they gathered around it, whispering to each other soundlessly. I felt like I was watching an old movie without sound; everything was bathed in white and black by the moon's glow. Suddenly, I saw little pinpricks of flame appear among them. A moment later, the small flames were tossed inside the house and the figures ran away into the night._

_I watched helplessly as the first the room, and then the rest of the house caught fire. Alarms rent the peaceful night silence with their brazen sound and I could hear shouts from inside. In the dancing light cast by the now blazing fire, I saw several people run out the front door, but closer inspection told me that I was not among them. Hearing a voice call out, I turned to see myself at one of the windows towards the top of the house, flames lighting up the room beyond. A large figure burst in through the flaming door and picked me up and took me out again and I lost sight of myself._

_A sudden scream from the depths of the house attracted both the watching people's and my attention back to the house. Against the bright orange and red flames that had eaten away most of the front of the house by now, I saw a bulky figure stumble and fall, a smaller section rolling away from the main bulk. The larger part didn't get up again, but the smaller one managed to stand and stumble away. As I watched, another figure was silhouetted against the blazing fire and I was startled to recognize the silhouette as Hiei's. The first figure ran unsteadily towards the other and I saw the second figure hesitate, then pick up the smaller person. They stood there for a moment, then they disappeared._

_The burning house disappeared right after that, taking me to a different scene. My younger self was sitting on a rather uncomfortable-looking bench, tears running unchecked down her face. A figure from one side crossed over to stand in front of her, bending down to ask her something. She nodded and he or she left, leaving the others to crowd around her._

_Another scene warp brought me to an office-looking room, with a large desk that had a lot of papers on it and several file cabinets. The door opened and I turned, expecting to see my younger self again. I did see myself, but I was much older and I realized that this must be what had happened on my fifteenth birthday. Behind me came an old man, who I recognized as the one who had given me the name Tori. He sat me down in one of the two chairs in the room, taking the other for himself._

"_Now, you understand what this will mean?" He asked. "You'll have no memories of the past fifteen years and you'll be stuck in the human world without your powers. There's no way to undo it, either, unless you can find that person somehow." I watched myself nod confidently._

"_I know what it means, sir." It was odd, hearing my own voice coming from my younger self. "I…I want this. I can't live with knowing what I know." The old man nodded and beckoned to her. She stood up and came over to stand in front of him. He reached up and touched her forehead. When he drew his fingers away, she sighed and collapsed silently. A moment later, though, she had regained consciousness and was looking around the room curiously. The old man sighed._

"_You won't remember any of this, but remember this: your name is to be Tori from now on, you have no other. May you find what you're looking for." She looked at him oddly and let herself out._

_Gradually, the darkness obscured the scene, leaving me where I had started. Then that darkness was gone and I blinked my eyes open…_

I felt Hiei pull his mind away from mine. Opening my eyes, I saw him sit down heavily on the edge of the bed. He seemed to be rather exhausted, but when he glanced at me, I couldn't see any sign of it in his eyes, just worry and some other emotion I couldn't name.

"You okay?" He asked quietly. I smiled slightly and sat up.

"Yeah, I'm fine." I fell silent for a moment, then glanced up at him. "Thanks, Hiei. It really meant a lot."

"Hn." He looked away, appearing to be slightly embarrassed and embarrassed at being embarrassed (if that makes any sense at all…). I reached out to touch his shoulder lightly, suddenly wondering what it had taken for him to be able to do what he had done.

"Are you alright, Hiei?" My worry must have shown rather clearly in my voice, because he half-turned to me, seemingly a bit startled, but with a slight reassuring smile on his face.

"I'll be fine." He said, standing up. "Nothing a little rest can't fix." I nodded and looked around, trying to reassure myself that I was really back. Suddenly, I saw Li standing by the wall, looking at us and felt my face start to heat up, though why I would be embarrassed, I had no idea, just that I was. She was smiling in a reassuring manner, though, so I figured she probably wouldn't tell anyone about this. Hiei also saw her just after I did, but apparently came to a different conclusion. He made some excuse about having to go do something and left. Just before he went out the door, though, he said something to Li in an undertone that I didn't catch. Li's smile faded though, and she looked after him with a thoughtful look on her face for a moment before turning back to me. As she looked at me, a myriad of expressions crossed her face.

She sighed. "Well, Tori, I'm not sure what to say." She said finally, coming over to sit where Hiei had been. "One thing's for sure, though, you are having the oddest effect on Hiei that I have ever seen." I frowned at her, already lost. What did she mean 'the oddest effect'? As far as I knew, I wasn't doing anything, so how could I have an effect on him? She smiled at my expression.

"He doesn't normally give in that easily to someone's requests." She explained. "In fact, in the whole two years that I've known him, I can't say that I've seen him act like this, either. When he came to get me to find out what you were, he was adamant about it, so much that if I hadn't known otherwise, I would have thought that it was about something he actually cared about." My frown must have deepened with my confusion because her smile grew bigger. "He could care less whether or not one of the others dropped dead at any given moment. Well, everyone except maybe Kurama; they've known each other for longer than the rest of us have, so he might actually care as to whether or not Kurama dropped dead, but the rest of us…I get the feeling that he would actually laugh if we died." I was shocked; Hiei hadn't seemed like that sort of person at all to me. A little distant, maybe, but not like that. What Li seemed to be saying was that Hiei was actually pretty heartless. I just couldn't believe that.

"But he…" Suddenly, I remembered that he hadn't wanted me to tell the others about our earlier conversation. I bit down on what I was going to say, causing Li to look at me oddly.

"But he what?" She prompted. I shook my head.

"Nothing." I hoped she wouldn't press the matter; if she did, I might have a hard time keeping my promise to Hiei. She raised her eyebrows doubtfully. Suddenly, the air around us grew chill.

"You know…" She said slowly, keeping her eyes locked on mine and leaning forward slightly. "I can find things out whether or not a person wants me to. Just telling me would save you a whole lot of pain and discomfort. If I were you, I'd save myself the consequences of keeping something I want to know from me." My eyes went wide, but I still shook my head; not even Li would get me to break a promise. If there was still something I would honor, it was my promises; I never reneged. Her face grew hard and I heard her mind-voice, full of steel this time.

_I will know._ I closed my eyes as if that would help and shook my head again, trying to block her voice from my head, with no success. _Why do you resist? It's futile, you know._ I felt pressure start to build in my mind, and put my hands to my head, biting my lip to keep from crying out at the sudden pain. The pressure kept building until I couldn't think straight anymore. My thoughts were all jumbled and in pieces. C_an't tell… promised Hiei…can't last…much longer…Hiei!_

I hadn't thought that I had actually called out, but a few seconds later, the door flew open, revealing Hiei standing there, his sword drawn. Footsteps behind him told me that the others were also coming, probably alerted by Hiei's abrupt departure, but I wasn't in any state to be thinking about that. By now, the pain in my head was unbearable, tears were running down my face, and I could taste blood from biting my lip so hard.

It took Hiei just a single glance to comprehend what was going on. He sped across the short distance, knocking into Li and shoving her to the floor, his sword held at her throat. Suddenly, the pain was gone, as if there was a shield around my mind preventing the pressure from getting to me. I blinked my eyes open in time to see everyone crowding into the doorway to see what was going on. The first one to recover from the shock of what they saw was Kurama. He crossed over to look down at Li.

"Li? What were you doing?" He asked, sounding pained, as if he had never seen her like this before. Hiei's red eyes flashed.

"I'd like to know the same thing. Answer him!" He growled, staring at the girl. Li glanced from Kurama to Hiei to me and then back to Kurama. When she spoke, she addressed him.

"She…I…" She glanced at me and her gaze hardened again. "She was trying to get me to do something horrible!" Her voice became shrill as she pointed her free hand accusingly at me. I flinched involuntarily. "I was defending myself! I swear!" Kurama frowned at her and turned to look at me. I tried to draw back from his gaze, but I bumped up against the headboard of the bed.

"Tori?" He asked. I heard the gentleness in his tone, but what I saw in his eyes, a accusation not unlike Li's, prevented me from speaking.

"She's lying." Hiei's voice broke the moment and Kurama and I both looked at him.

"What?" Kurama looked like this was unbelievable.

"She's lying." Hiei repeated. "Tori didn't do anything to her. In fact, I'd be willing to bet that Li was the one who started it." Li's eyes went wide and she stared at Hiei's unforgiving face, inches from her own.

"How can you say that?" She asked, her voice still shrill. "How can you say that about me? You're taking her side!" Her eyes narrowed suddenly. "You've already been trapped by her spells, haven't you? She's already got you doing what she wants! I've seen it! You consented to do something for her! Didn't you?" Hiei's face showed a mixture of confusion and anger at the accusation. His sword crept closer to Li's neck.

"I have no idea what you're talking about, but I know this; you are not Li." The sword in his hand jerked suddenly and we watched in shocked silence as Li's head rolled away from her body. Before anyone could jump on Hiei, though, he held up a hand, still watching Li's body. "Don't say anything, just watch."

I looked at Li's body, unsure of what I was supposed to be seeing. Then I saw a bit of movement around the edges of the still form. A closer look told me it was just sand. A second later, I realized that her whole body was turning into sand. The others and I all watched in horrified silence as her body dissipated into fine, black sand. Hiei stood up, glancing at Kurama.

"Well, do you believe me now?" He asked, raising an eyebrow. Mutely, Kurama nodded, his eyes wide. Seemingly satisfied with that, the shorter boy turned and walked over to stand next to the bed, looking down at me and ignoring the shocked expressions of the others.

_Are you okay?_ He asked in a private manner. I started to nod, then thought better of it and shook my head instead, wincing as a lance of pain shot through my head, a reminder of my encounter with the fake Li.

_No, I don't think I am._ I told him. He frowned.

_Well, we'll have to fix that once we find the real Li._ He said. He held out a hand. _Need some help up?_ I smiled weakly and took his hand gratefully.

_Thanks_. I said as he puled me off the bed and onto my unsteady feet. He glanced at me.

_Hn_. I just smiled. Over by the door, the others were finally getting over the shock. They started to mutter among themselves and I heard Urameshi's voice rise above the others.

"Well, if that wasn't Li, then where is she?" That got everyone's attention and we all turned to the problem of finding out where the real Li was.

After a few minutes of discussion, someone suggested that Hiei search the house for her presence, seeing as he was the only one who could do that sort of thing. He consented and a moment later reported that she was not within the house. This provided a rather difficult problem, seeing as she could be just about anywhere. Some more discussion brought up a search party of three groups with two people in each group. Keiko and Yukina would stay behind in case she came back on her own. The rest of us quickly approved this and we spilt ourselves into three groups by drawing lots. The end results were Yusuke and Botan in one, Kuwabara and Kurama in another and Hiei and I in the last one. As I stared at the small red piece of paper that matched Hiei's, my only thought was that somehow Kurama had rigged the drawing. When I looked at him, though, I couldn't see any trace of guile. Putting it from my mind, I tried to focus on what he was saying.

"Yusuke, you and Botan search the area around the house that isn't the woods. Kuwabara and I'll try in town and Hiei and Tori can search the woods. Everyone got that? Good. We'll meet back here in three hours if we don't find her. If you do, contact one of the others and we'll come back sooner. Okay, that's all, so let's go." He led the way out of the room and down a fairly long hall. Several minutes later, we finally arrived at the front door. As we had walked, I had come to the realization that the house was much bigger than I had thought. Going outside only confirmed that.

Looking over my shoulder, I could see that the house was made of a pinkish stone, like granite, and was three stories above ground. From what I could see, there were a ton of rooms, if the number of windows was anything to go by. I didn't have much time to gawk at the house, though, because Hiei almost immediately set off for the woods that more or less surrounded the mansion (as I had decided to call the 'house') and I had to jog to catch up. We were silent as we walked under the green boughs.

Five minutes into the woods, however, I had lost all sight of the mansion and the dark trees were starting to get to me. I'd jump every time a bird called from nearby. Hiei, on the other hand, seemed perfectly at home and was walking as if he knew where he was going; though, on second thought, he probably did. Just seeing how comfortable he was in the woods helped calm some of my fear, but not quite all of it. I still barely stifled a shriek as a snake slithered across the path.

It had only been about a half-hour since we had entered the woods, according to my watch, but it seemed like forever since I had seen the others. By now, I had stopped jumping whenever a bird took off unexpectedly from a nearby tree or when a rabbit jumped up out of the undergrowth as we passed. I had started looking from side to side at the flowers on the bushes and on the sides of the path, slowing down ever so slightly every time I stopped to look at some. When I looked up from a particularly pretty bunch of lilacs, I suddenly realized I had lost sight of Hiei. Looking around wildly, I tried to find some sign that he was nearby.

"Hiei?" I called softly, not daring to raise my voice much above a whisper. "Hiei, where are you?" I walked forward a little ways, around a large tree, to see if I could see him from there. He couldn't have gotten all that far, after all. When I rounded the tree, though, I still didn't see him, but any thoughts of finding him were almost immediately driven from my mind.

I found myself at the edge of a large meadow, liberally dotted with flowers of all kinds. In the middle, there was what seemed to be a small pond. A light breeze was blowing, causing the flowers to bend and dance, creating what looked like waves across the meadow. I started hesitantly across the meadow to the pond. Looking down, I marveled at the crystal clear water. Just as I went to put my hand in, though, to see how cold it was, my eye caught sight of something further in. Curious, I leaned forward to see it better.

When I realized what it was, I gasped.

* * *

A/N: Sorry 'bout making Li evil there, but it was necessary. She'll be back to normal soon, though,s o don't worry.

The next chapter will be up fairly soon and I'd like to thank my first reviewer for this story, Shadow Ice Maiden. Thanks for taking the time to do so!

Until next time, then.

Haliaetus


	4. Old Friends

A/N: There's something about being the only one available to drive my siblings around that just makes my days quite a bit busier than they would be. That's my excuse for not updating in a couple days, by the way.

Disclaimer still applies. I really need to get a general one that I can adjust to whatever story I'm currently writing so that all I have to do is copy and paste it in...

Enjoy.

* * *

(Hiei's POV)

I glanced around the woods; though, I had no idea what I was looking for. Looking over my shoulder to see if Tori was still following me, I found myself looking at empty woods. I frowned and called her name, hoping she was somewhere nearby.

"Tori? Tori!" I didn't bother keeping my voice quiet: I could defend myself if something other than Tori heard me and decided to investigate. "Tori, dang it, where are you?" I started to walk back the way I had come, scanning the space around me for any sign of the girl. _Figures she'd stray off,_ I thought to myself, _Take your eyes off her for even a second and she gets into trouble. First Li, now Tori. What is going on with these girls?!_

I decided to try a different approach. _Tori?_ Hopefully she was within the area I could reach with my mind. _Tori!_ I continued to walk back the way I had come, wondering just when she had wandered off and periodically calling out for her with both my voice and my mind.

A few moments later, I got a mental answer, but the voice that answered wasn't Tori's. _Who calls?_ The voice seemed to be male, but it's hard to tell with mind voices. I decided to play it safe until I knew who was talking.

_I am. I'm looking for-_ I didn't get a chance to explain as the other cut me off.

_I don't want to hear why you are calling, all I wanted to know is who is doing the calling. 'I am' doesn't give me enough information._ The voice was silent for a moment, then, _Stay where you are, I want to see who you are._ I stopped obediently, also wanting to see who had answered me. A moment later, I caught sight of a form coming through the trees. As it came closer, I realized that 'it' was a he, as I had thought, and he was not human, however much he looked it; the green hair gave it away immediately. His green eyes didn't seem to hold any animosity, though, so I relaxed slightly.

He stopped in front of me and looked me over, as I looked him over. Now that I could see him more clearly and could see/sense his aura, I realized that he must be an earth elemental, one of those beings able to completely control the earth, trees and even the very rock with their power. Finally, he took a deep breath and let it out.

"Well, I can't say I expected to find a fire demon at the other end." He said. His voice was a light tenor and it had a whispery effect that sounded like leaves blowing in the wind. He held out his hand. "My name's Shiki. What's yours?" I took his hand slowly.

"…Hiei." I replied, slightly confused by Shiki's behavior.

"Nice to meet you, Hiei." He said, smiling in an amiable manner. "Now, you said you were looking for something?" I nodded.

"I'm looking for a girl who was with me." I told him. He raised an eyebrow.

"Lost your girl?" He asked, his smile growing broader. "Tsk tsk. That's no way to treat a lady, you know." I glared at him.

"She's not _my_ girl." I said venomously. "We just happened to be together because we're looking for a companion of ours."

"Well, you certainly seem to be doing a stellar job of it!" He said, laughing. I sighed, realizing it was futile to be angry, much as I would have enjoyed separating his head from his neck. He grew serious again. "Why don't you tell me the name and appearance of your friends and I'll see what I can do to help you look for them?" I consented; at the moment, I could do with any help I could get, even from an annoying earth elemental.

"Well, the one I was calling for is Tori." I said, giving Shiki Tori's description. "And the one we were looking for is Li-Sanya-" Shiki cut me off.

"Li-Sanya?" His expression changed to one of intense curiosity. "Li-Sanya is alive?" I nodded, leaning back a little as Shiki put his face close to mine. "Li-Sanya the Makai queen? She's alive?" I nodded again, wondering why it was so surprising to him. The news seemed to shock him beyond belief, though, and he groped around for a tree. Finding one, he slid down to the ground holding his head in his hands.

"Man! She's alive! Who would've guessed?" I watched as he muttered to himself. "Wait 'till the others hear this! Kugo'll flip his lid!" He glanced up at me. "Hey, Hiei? Would you come with me for a short bit? I need to go meet some people before we start to look for Li-Sanya and your Tori." I shrugged.

"Fine." I couldn't see why not, if it would help us find Tori and Li. Shiki stood up and beckoned to me, walking off again into the woods.

"C'mon then." He said over his shoulder. "It's a fair walk."

Twenty minutes later, Shiki stopped me in front of a large cave mouth. He disappeared into the darkness and I soon heard shouts of disbelief and joy from the depths. A moment later, he reemerged with several demons. One, I was surprised to recognize.

"You?!" Toya(1) looked over at me with surprise.

"Oh, it's you. You were at the last Tournament." The ice demon said calmly, recognizing me. Shiki looked between us.

"Well, seeing as you two seem to know each other, I'll just introduce the others." He indicated a taller fire demon with wild, rust colored hair and onyx eyes. "This is Kugo. He's our expert on explosives and other pyrotechnical stuff. The kitsune over there," Here he pointed to the black fox demoness with long black hair and sharp black eyes. I was reminded of Youko, Kurama's demonic self, as she glanced at me. "Is Niseka and she's our healer." Shiki bent down to put his mouth next to my ear. "I'd stay on her good side, if I were you." He said in a stage whisper. "Knowing how to heal a body means she also knows how to mutilate it beyond repair. Plus, she can do it just by looking at you." Kugo laughed as he overheard Shiki's remark.

"I'd say so!" The fire demon's voice was a deeper tenor than Shiki's, but it had the lightness of humor in it. Somehow, I was reminded of Yusuke when I heard him. "Remember that last Tournament we were in? You managed to insult her while she was fighting and she broke your arm right after she made her opponent implode!" He started laughing while Shiki shot him a glare that should have restricted him to his bed for several weeks. The earth elemental's voice was full of disdain when he answered.

"I have no idea what you're talking about, Kugo." He said, sniffing. Toya looked thoughtful.

"Or that time when you mixed up her herbs, Kugo." The fire demon stopped laughing abruptly and glared at the ice demon. "From what I recall, you were unable to eat solid foods for two weeks and we had to specially prepare your food."

"Hey! That was uncalled for!" Kugo protested, jumping at Toya. They started to fight and Niseka sighed, speaking up for the first time.

"Of course, there was that time all three of you decided that swimming in below freezing waters would be fun and I had to restrict Kugo and Shiki to their beds for a month because they got pneumonia. Then they had to take what they called a 'vulgar-tasting concoction from the devil himself' which restricted them to their beds for a further week and a half." The two mentioned looked up indignantly, but decided against making her regret it. She just smiled thinly and turned to me. "Now, Shiki says you're looking for Li-Sanya and another girl?" I nodded, thankful that at least one of these people had a brain.

"Yes. Can you help me find them?" I had to force the words out; I was unused to asking for help. The fox demoness glanced at her companions who had become serious again.

"What do you think, boys? Shall we go rescue the mistress and the little bird?" The 'boys' all made a big show of conferring with each other then turned back to Niseka and I. Giving us big smiles, they all held up a thumbs-up sign. Niseka turned back to me. "Well, that seems like a yes." She said dryly.

A few moments later, she had divided us into two groups, Shiki and Toya in one group and Kugo, Niseka and I in the other. As she separated us, I heard her mutter, "At least I know Toya and Shiki won't tear each other's throats out within two minutes like they would if I put Kugo with them." I had to smile slightly at that; she sounded a lot like Kurama when he divided us on missions. Finally, we were ready. There was at least one telepath with each group, so if we found either Tori or Li, we would be able to contact the others. Niseka sent the other group off in one direction and we set off in the other.

* * *

(1) Hey, I can't always have OCs ready to pop out of the woods whenever I need them to. Some non-OCs are good, too! 

A/N: Well, Chapter 3 (not counting the prologue, but if you are, then it's chapter 4) is now finished. Yahoozums. Anyway, I am currently suffering from writer's block on the section of the story I am currently writing (approximately fifteen chapters away) and if _anyone_ has any ideas, please let me know in a PM or in a review and I promise to at least consider it. If I do use your idea, your name (username, that is) will appear in the credits as the true source of that. There's your challenge.

In the meantime, look forward to the next chapter when (I think. Let me consult the master plan...) we finally find Li again. Also, for those of you who are going "What the crap is all this?!," it all gets explained later on in the story, so just hang in there. Until later, then, dudes.

Haliaetus


	5. Additions

A/N: Sorry for the delay, guys. I've just been busy. (Haven't we all?) Anyway, here's chapter 4.

I really don't have much to say except enjoy and keep in mind that I don't own YuYu Hakusho, much as I would like to...

* * *

In addition to Niseka and Kugo's vocal calls, I resumed my mental ones. We had been walking for about ten minutes when Niseka stopped calling for Tori and Li and turned to me. "So, how do you know Li?" She asked curiously. Kugo turned to look at me as well.

"Yeah, how do you know her?" I glanced at the other fire demon and chose to direct my answer to Niseka.

"She helped some of my friends and I to defeat a fairly powerful demon about two years ago. During that, I guess you could say she fell in love with one of my friends and she's just been around since." Kugo glanced at me with an odd expression on his face.

"Who?" His voice was full of what I thought was jealousy, but I could have been mistaken. Looking at his face, though, I didn't think I was.

"A fox demon named Kurama." They both stopped where they were and I continued on a couple of steps before realizing they had stopped and turning back to look at them. "What?" Niseka got over her surprise first.

"Kurama? As in the thief lord, Kurama?" I nodded.

"Yeah, so?" Kugo shook his head in disbelief.

"I don't believe it." He said slowly. "How could she fall for that guy?" I looked between them, confused.

"What do you mean?"

Niseka and Kugo glanced at each other, then the fox demoness answered slowly, as if she wanted to make sure I understood. "Kurama's been dead for the past seventeen years." She told me. "There's no way she could have met him two years ago." I sighed; figured it would be that.

"Look. Kurama didn't die." I said. "He escaped in soul form and took up residence in a human embryo. He grew up as a human boy and that is how Li met him. He's still as much a demon as you or I, though, with all of his powers." I shrugged and turned away, wanting to get back to finding Tori and Li. "Don't believe me if you want, but it's the truth." Before they could answer, though, I held up a hand. "Wait, don't say anything." I listened again.

_Hiei!_ The voice was definitely Tori's. I quickly determined which direction she was sending from and beckoned to the two flabbergasted demons behind me.

"Hurry up, bakas! I've found Tori!"

(Tori's POV)

I stared down at Li's still form in the pond. There was a bubble like thing around her and I could tell that it was what was keeping her alive. I was kneeling next to the water's edge, watching her to make sure she didn't just disappear, like a mirage. I called out again with my mind.

_Hiei_! All I could do was to wait and hope he could hear me and got here quickly. _Hiei_! To my surprise, I got an answer this time.

_Tori_!

_Hiei_? I was hopeful, but cautious; I didn't know if there were other…things…out there that could take advantage of me.

The answering voice was most definitely Hiei's and he seemed to be rather miffed at me. _Of course it's me, baka onna! Where are you?_ I could have just about cried with relief.

_I'm in a meadow with a small pond in it. And, Hiei, I found Li!_

_Good. Now just stay where you are and we'll find you._

_Okay._ We? Had he gotten the others or did he mean someone else? I didn't ask him, though, figuring I'd find out soon enough.

I was right; a few moments later, I heard someone, or several someones, come pounding through the undergrowth to my right. Turning my head, I saw first Hiei, then two other people I didn't know emerge into the meadow. Noise from my left drew my attention to two more people coming from that direction. One of the guys from the second group grinned when he saw Hiei and waved at him. I noted with some surprise that he had green hair.

"Hey, Hiei! Looks like we found your girl!" He laughed as Hiei glared at him. I felt my face heat up as I realized what he was implying. Standing as they all came over to stand near me, I glanced at Hiei, wondering who these people were. Before he could explain however, the guy who had teased Hiei held out his hand.

"Name's Shiki." He said in a light tenor. "Pleased to meet you." I took his hand a little bemusedly.

"My name's Tori." I said, slightly intimidated by the number of people I didn't know. His friend, a tall boy with light hair and eyes, pulled Shiki back out of his way.

"Stop intruding on the girl's space." He said admonishingly. Turning to me, he held out his hand. "I'm Toya." The boy who had come with Hiei, shorter than his friends, but still taller than I was, elbowed past Toya to stand in front of me. He had messy red hair and bright black eyes.

"I'm Kugo." He said with a grin. I smiled tentatively back as I shook his hand. The last one to introduce themself was the girl who had come with Hiei. She pushed all three boys aside and glared at them.

"You bakas! Can't you see you're intimidating the poor girl?" She turned to me with an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry about the boys, Tori; they don't usually get the chance to meet new people, let alone girls, so they're bound to act a bit weird. My name's Niseka." I shook Niseka's proffered hand and smiled at her, keeping to myself my surprise at her fox ears and tail.

"That's okay; I don't usually get to meet new people, either." I said. Then I glanced at Hiei, remembering why we had come to the woods in the first place. "Oh, Hiei?" He glanced at me.

"What?" I turned to look at the pond behind me and pointed, not saying anything. The others also crowded around to see as Hiei came up beside me. Their chattering died out as they saw what I was pointing at.

"Oh, my…" Niseka's voice was subdued as she looked at Li's prostrate body. I glanced at Hiei and then at the others.

"So, how do we get her out?" I asked, probably voicing the question that was going through everyone's mind right then. Niseka shook her head slowly as she answered.

"Very, very carefully." She said.

A half-hour later, we still hadn't figured out a fail-safe plan to get Li out of the pond alive. Hiei had contacted Kurama and Urameshi to let them know that we had found Li, so they would probably be here soon. In the meantime, we all racked our brains to find a way to retrieve the demoness.

While we had been brainstorming ideas, I learned bits and pieces about the four who had come with Hiei when he had found me. Apparently, they were all demons except for Shiki, who was an earth elemental. Kugo was a fire demon, Toya was an ice demon and Niseka was a fox demon with healing powers. Something else that I realized was that they all seemed to think I was human. I didn't bother correcting them on this, seeing as I wasn't exactly comfortable with not being human yet. Another thing I found out was that they all had known Li from a long time ago, which told me that she was a demon, something that had been nagging at me since she had told me what I actually was.

I sighed and rubbed my head, which had started to hurt from all the thinking I had done. Glancing around, I saw Hiei was still sitting a ways off, where he had stationed himself after contacting Kurama and Urameshi. Leaving the others to their discussion on whether or not Li's mind would be receptive through the clear barrier that surrounded her or not, I walked over to sit down next to the silent fire demon.

"Hey, you seem a bit gloomy, Hiei." I said, pulling my legs up and resting my head on them so that I was looking up into his face. He glanced at me, then back to the ground in front of him.

"Hn." He grunted, not meeting my gaze. I felt as if I was butting my head against a solid brick wall, with similar results. I tried a different approach.

_What's wrong?_ I saw him stiffen at the sound of my mind-voice. He looked at me then, but I knew he wasn't really seeing me; he was seeing something else.

"Nothing's wrong." He said shortly, refusing to respond in kind. I felt something in my chest give a painful twinge and glanced away from his face. I sighed and stood up.

"I'll leave you to it, then." I said softly, turning to rejoin the others, who had progressed to a rather animated argument.

_Wait. Tori…I'm sorry_. I turned to look at him, startled.

"What for?" I asked acidly aloud, suddenly fed up with his behavior. He winced as if I had hit him.

_I…don't know, but…I'm sorry._ He looked up at me, then, and I couldn't keep my heart hardened.

_It's okay_. I sat back down next to him. _What's wrong?_ He sighed.

_I don't know. Everything. Nothing_. He fell silent and I glanced at him, slightly surprised that he had actually answered. I didn't say anything, simply sent him a wave of understanding. He glanced up at me in surprise and I smiled at him. Attempting a smile in return, he didn't get a chance to say anything, either, because just then the others set up a racket, making us turn to look at them in surprise. To our shock, they were jumping around, hugging each other and generally making a lot of noise.

I glanced at Hiei. "Dare I ask what they're doing?" He shrugged and turned to regard the joyful quartet. After a few minutes of celebrating, Toya finally noticed that we were looking at them oddly and grinned at us.

"We figured it out!" He called. I raised my eyebrows.

"Figured out what?" I asked. He laughed.

"How to get Li out!" I stared at them in shock and Hiei stood up.

"How?" He asked disbelieving. Kugo laughed.

"We'll show you, but we need your abilities, Hiei!" I was mystified, but I followed Hiei over to join them at the water's edge. Kugo pointed at Li's still form. "Can you talk to her?" Hiei frowned, but nodded.

"I'm pretty sure I can." He said. Kugo nodded.

"Then please do so." Hiei closed his eyes in concentration. A moment later, I was startled to see Li open her eyes where she was lying. Next to me, Niseka and Shiki made excited noises. Li tried to sit up, but bumped her head against the top of the bubble that was around her. Startled, she looked up at us, rubbing her head. Frowning when she saw us, she looked at Hiei with a confused expression. Kugo was grinning broadly.

"Okay, now that communication has been opened, ask her if she can hold her breath for as long as it takes to get out of the pond." Hiei was silent, but a moment later, Li nodded.

"She say's she can." The fire demon reported, confirming what Li had indicated. Kugo nodded.

"Good. Tell her to hold her breath, then." The redheaded fire demon turned to his friends and they all held their hands out and started humming. I started out watching them, but I soon realized that something was going on underwater. Switching my attention to the water, I watched as the bubble around Li started to shake. Then some cracks appeared on it and it burst, leaving Li free to swim up, which is what she did.

Hiei and I helped her out of the water as she gasped for breath. We sat her down on the ground as the other four broke off their humming to gather around her. In the chaos that followed, I was more or less shoved to one side, forgotten. Knowing that they were anxious to greet her, but still feeling a bit left out, I walked over to the edge of the meadow where the trees started again. Sitting down with my back to a tree, I watched as they caught up on what had been happening during the years that they hadn't seen each other.

Hearing a sudden noise from behind me, I turned to see Kurama with the others a ways behind him. He saw me about the same time I saw him. Before he could ask, I just pointed over my shoulder to where the activity was starting to die down. Li must have seen him, as well, because almost as soon as he had passed me, she called out his name and broke free of her friends to run to him. Kurama caught her and held her tightly while everyone except Shiki and Toya politely averted his or her gaze. Then Niseka corrected them and they, too, looked away.

Having finally caught up with Kurama, Urameshi, Kuwabara and Botan flopped down next to me, panting and obviously wiped out. Botan was the first to speak.

"Well, it seems we found Li, anyway." She said. I nodded.

"Yup, but we've also found four others who I don't think are going to let her get away again so easily." I said, indicating the four who were still standing by Hiei. Botan's eyes went wide, but then she sighed.

"Well, we've got plenty of room, so they're welcome to come stay with us." She said resignedly. "I'm sure Koenma will understand." I looked at her curiously.

"Koenma? Who's that?" I asked, confused as to who this Koenma was. Botan started to answer, but Urameshi clapped his hands over her mouth and preventing her from talking.

"We'll let him explain himself when she meets him, Botan." He told her. Botan didn't look very happy about it, but she sighed and nodded. Urameshi let her go cautiously, as if she'd blurt it out as soon as he let go. When she didn't, he relaxed, but he kept an eye on her, just in case. I turned as Hiei joined us. Looking past him, I saw that Li was introducing Kurama to the others and it suddenly occurred to me that they were more than just friends. Hiei sighed as he sat down next to me.

I glanced at him. "You okay?" He shook his head.

"I don't think I'm going to be okay for as long as _they_ are around." He muttered, jabbing his thumb back over his shoulder at Kugo and co. I smiled and shrugged.

"Well, too bad, then, because I get the feeling that they'll be coming back with us." I said, smiling even more at his tortured expression. Urameshi laughed.

"Oh, what, Hiei? Are they going to cramp your space?" He chuckled. Hiei glared at him.

"Oh, shut up, Yusuke!" Hiei growled, swiping at him with one hand. Urameshi ducked and kept laughing. Grabbing his sword, Hiei swiped again, this time coming even closer to hitting Urameshi. I laughed as the fire demon chased the taller human boy around, trying to chop him up with his sword.

I was laughing so hard that I didn't see Urameshi duck behind me for a moment, then dart away again just before Hiei reached him. Unable to change his course, all Hiei could do was avoid hitting me with his sword. He smashed into me, knocking me over and landing on me. My laughter was abruptly cut off as I had my breath knocked out of me. I looked up into his eyes, so close to my own. For a moment neither of us made any noise, just stared in mutual shock. Then I think we both realized our positions and we tried to get up at the same time, silently, with mixed results. (First, I bumped into him, then he fell again, then I managed to get him off, but then I couldn't get up because his legs were still across mine and, yeah, it was pretty awkward, to say the least.) Anyway, we finally got into sitting positions about three feet away from each other.

Then Urameshi came around the bush that had separated us from the others (and saved us both a whole lot more embarrassment) to find Hiei. Hiei managed to stand up and walk away with some dignity, but I just sat there. When Urameshi and Hiei went back around without me, Botan came around instead, to find me. Seeing me on the ground, she smiled and sat down next to me.

"A little embarrassing, wasn't it?" She asked. I cast a surprised glance at her. She giggled. "I don't think the guys noticed, but there was a rather significant silence from back here." I felt my face heat up and quickly protested that anything of the sort had happened. Botan just laughed even more.

"I was kidding!" She managed to gasp out between chuckles. "Though, from the way your face turned beet red, I imagine you wouldn't have been averse to it if it had happened!" I couldn't think of anything to say to that, so I just sat there in embarrassed silence, my face feeling like it was on fire. Just then, Li poked her head over the bush to frown at Botan.

"Botan, what are you doing to the poor girl?" She demanded with a slight smile. I looked down so she wouldn't see how embarrassed I was. Botan couldn't answer; she was laughing too hard. Li came around and sat down next to me, giving me an understanding look.

"Don't worry, Tori, we all do embarrassing things every now and then. The only part you need to worry about is someone of the opposite gender catching you, because if they do, you'll never hear the end of it. I'm sure Hiei was just as embarrassed as you were; though, he'd never show it. Now, how about we rejoin the others, okay?" I nodded and glanced up at her gratefully.

"Thanks, Li." I said quietly as I stood up. The older girl smiled.

"Your welcome. If you ever need someone to talk to, you can come to me." She gave me a wink and went to talk to Kurama and Niseka. "Are we ready to go then?" Kurama glanced down at her with a smile.

"I believe so." I caught the glance he sent my way and the murmured question he asked Li. "Is she all right?" Li nodded and guided him away, distracting him with other topics, like what was for dinner. I smiled to myself, glad that she wouldn't tell.

The trip back to the mansion seemed to take much longer than it had taken earlier, but that might have just been a result of me being so tired. I was pretty quiet the whole way back, not talking unless someone asked me a question, and I kept my eyes cast downwards. It wasn't until I nearly ran into a tree for the fifth time that Shiki asked if I would like to be carried for the rest of the way. I was so tired that I gratefully accepted and even fell asleep on his back. Before I fell asleep, though, I caught sight of Hiei. He was staring at Shiki, but from his expression, I would have been willing to bet that he wasn't paying much attention to what the earth elemental was saying. If I hadn't known any better, I might have thought that the emotion I saw on his face was jealousy, but, of course, Hiei didn't care about someone enough to be jealous, did he? Too tired to contemplate this new mystery, I let myself slide into the warm embrace of sleep.

* * *

A/N: So Li's back to herself again and everything's hunky-dory. More action coming up fairly soon, as well as a trip to Koenma's. It'll be a couple of days until I post again, though, so sorry in advance. It should be up on Monday, though. See ya!

Haliaetus


	6. Koenma the Toddler

A/N: Hey, sorry it took so long to get this chapter up, but I've been really busy lately, summer notwithstanding. Anyway, here it is. Hope you can still recall what happened in the last chapter (Li was found and we met several new friends).

Continuation of disclaimer here...not going to bother writing it out...

Umm...enjoy?

* * *

When I woke up, the first thing I noticed was that it wasn't to the train-crossing bell. The next was that my pillows were much softer than usual and the third thing I noticed was that I was in a real bed. Yawning, I propped myself up on an elbow to look at the room I was in, having come to the conclusion that I wasn't where I usually stayed any more.

I found myself in the same room I had been in after Yusuke had knocked me out. The walls were painted a light orange and the carpet was a deep vermilion red. The curtains on the windows were a darker shade of orange than the walls and were blowing slightly in the warm breeze that came through the open windows. Blinking, my eyes found the digital clock on the dresser and stared at the numbers before they registered as a time. 8:23 am. I flopped back onto the soft pillows, trying to figure out what that meant.

Remembering yesterday's events, I realized that I must have fallen asleep on the way back to the mansion and since I hadn't woken up until now, they must have just put me in bed and left me to sleep. Deciding that I wasn't going to sleep anymore, I rolled out of bed, reveling in the warm feel of the carpet on my toes.

A quick peek in the closet showed me more clothes than I had seen at any one time in my life except in stores. Then I realized that they were all there for me to wear and I just about fainted. Picking out an outfit took me about twenty minutes and I finally understood how it could take some girls forever to just get ready. Finally, though, I chose a knee-length maroon skirt and a white tanktop.

My next stop was the bathroom and inside, I found a large tub just waiting to be filled with water and soaked in and a ton of cloud-soft towels next to it. It was decorated similarly to the main room, with the towels being a burnt orange color with the walls still the same apricot orange and the carpet still the same shade of red. I emerged half an hour later in a cloud of steam with the new outfit on and my waist-length hair done up in a French braid. A glance at the clock told me it was almost 9:30. Time to go join the others, then.

Opening my door, I glanced down the hall both ways, suddenly unsure of which way we had gone the day before. Thankfully, I was saved from starting off in the wrong direction by Shiki poking his head out of his room, which was apparently only two down from mine.

"Hey, Tori." He said cheerfully with a grin. "Ready to head downstairs, then?" I nodded.

"Yeah, but I'm afraid I don't know which way to go." I admitted sheepishly. Shiki laughed.

"That makes sense. When we got back, you'd already fallen asleep, so Li just had me deliver you to your room. I'll show you the way if you want. Just hang on a sec." I nodded and he ducked back into his room. A moment later he reemerged and we set off together.

As we walked, I made a point of memorizing the way so I wouldn't need help later. Shiki was pretty quiet on the way down, and I was too busy finding landmarks to really strike up a conversation, so we made it to the kitchen without saying more than ten words to each other and most of them were monosyllables. He opened the door for me and I was hit by the sudden onslaught of noise. Ducking an airborne piece of fruit that ended up hitting Shiki, I peered inside to see what was going on.

Next to the door to my right were all of the girls except Li and Niseka. They were watching uneasily as the other two tried to make peace with the boys. Across the room, I could see that the boys were clearly divided into two groups: Hiei, Kurama and Toya on one side, with Yusuke, Kuwabara and Kugo on the other. From what I could hear of their insults, one or more of them must have ticked someone off on the opposite side in some way. I decided to confirm this by asking one of the other girls.

"Hey, Botan!" I almost had to shout to be heard over the din. The blue-haired girl glanced at me and motioned for me to go back out in the hallway. I obeyed and she followed me out, closing the door behind her. We both sighed as the noise was drastically reduced. She turned to me.

"What do you want?" I gestured at the closed door.

"What's going on in there?" She glanced over her shoulder and grimaced.

"I'm not entirely sure as to how it got started, but I think Yusuke managed to insult Toya in some way and then started an all-out food fight." She explained. "They've been at it for the past five minutes. Li and Niseka are doing their best to stop it, but they're not getting very far. Can you do anything?" I sighed.

"Well, I can certainly try, but I can't give you any guarantees." As we carefully opened the door, I scanned the room again. Suddenly, something from the day before popped into my mind and I carefully considered it. If I could do it, it would definitely get the boys to stop, at least long enough for Li and Niseka to do something. Making sure I was fairly certain of what I was going to do, I glanced down at the floor, which had been cleared of any furniture so that the tables could provide service as shields on either side of the room. Taking a deep breath, I closed my eyes to focus more, but found the noise just as distracting as the sight of food and other projectiles flying across the room. So, I tried to ignore the noise, turning my ears figuratively off, with surprising success. When the volume was turned down to a low static-like noise, I focused on what I wanted to do.

Opening my eyes, I bit my lip as nothing happened for a moment. Then I saw the telltale flickering red of a flame and I smiled slightly in triumph. Keeping an eye on the spreading flames, I quickly motioned for Li and Niseka to get out of the way, since the boys were more or less staying stationary. They looked a little confused, but did as I indicated. Now able to give my complete attention to what I was doing, I frowned as I fought with the fire to keep it where it was instead of spreading, as it wanted to. Finally, though, it gave in and shot up in a thin sheet, burning on nothing but my own energy and air.

Startled gasps and other noises broke through my concentration and the sheet of flame flickered before I could regain control of it. Pressing my lips together, I carefully squashed the fire until it went out. As I let the power I'd been wielding go, I found that I ached, like I'd used muscles I hadn't used in a long time. Slumping against the wall behind me, I looked up to meet the other's shocked faces.

Shiki, Toya, Kugo and Niseka were all staring at me as if I had sprouted horns, but that was probably just because they had thought I was only human. Yusuke (huh, somehow, I've started calling him Yusuke instead of Urameshi…weird…) and Kuwabara looked like they'd been one step shy of peeing their pants, as were Keiko, Botan, and Yukina. Kurama looked surprised, but not quite like Li's old friends. Li and Hiei's expressions looked pretty similar to Kurama's, except they knew the whole truth. I focused on Li, though, mainly because she was standing almost directly in front of me, but also because I couldn't quite bring myself to look any of the others in the eye.

She took a deep breath. "Well, that was one way to stop it." Her voice seemed to break the stunned silence and everyone started to breathe again. They started to walk around the kitchen, replacing the furniture and talking in subdued voices while they cast wary glances at me. I just sighed and slid down to sit on the floor. Kurama knelt on the floor and examined it. He whistled slightly in admiration and Li looked down at him.

"What is it, Kurama?" She asked, bending down to look at him. He indicated me with his head.

"Her." He said. "Look at this." He pointed at the section of floor he'd been looking at and I looked as well, curious despite myself. Several others also stopped what they were doing to look. Yusuke voiced what we were all thinking.

"Look at what?" Kurama nodded.

"Exactly." Everyone frowned in confusion before he continued. "Tori had such complete control on that fire it didn't even burn the floor. I haven't seen even full fire elementals with control like that." He glanced up at Li, raising one eyebrow. "So?"

Li looked a little sheepish when she replied. "Well, it's been busy!" She said in defense of herself.

"I never said it wasn't." Kurama replied evenly. "But what exactly is she?" Li sighed.

"Half dragon demon and half fire elemental." She said. Everyone except Kurama and Hiei gasped or made some other surprised noise. Kurama nodded.

"I'd gotten the fire elemental part, but dragon demon…" He shook his head. I looked down in embarrassment as they all turned to look at me, suddenly scared of what they would think. I'd only known them for all of about a day and a half, but already they were the closest things to friends that I'd ever had; I didn't want to lose that. Nobody spoke, and I grew even more uncomfortable, my imagination running wild.

Peeking up through my eyelashes, I saw with a large amount of surprise that they weren't looking at me anymore. In fact, they seemed to be whispering among themselves. I frowned slightly, not really wanting to be left out of whatever they were doing.

(Hiei's POV)

I listened as Kurama told us what he'd been thinking. "I wasn't planning on taking her to see Koenma this soon. For one, I didn't know if she would be staying with us. But, now…now, I think we need to get her to see him as soon as possible." I looked at him and put in what I knew.

"She doesn't have any memory of her life before almost a year ago." I said. "She knows now what she is, but without her memories, that's worth nothing." Kugo snorted.

"Well, it's worth something, if what we just saw is anything to go by. I mean, it took me nearly four months to master something like that and here she does it right off the bat!" Toya glanced at his friend.

"Well, she is part fire elemental, so that probably played a fairly major part in it." Shiki nodded his agreement.

"Yeah. Elementals don't have to actually learn anything; they're born with the skill and the power. I'm just not sure how I missed seeing that she was elemental, though." Niseka nodded, but didn't say anything. Yusuke, Kuwabara and the other girls just looked back and forth between us, already lost.

"So…" Yusuke said. "We're taking her to Koenma?" Kurama nodded.

"As soon as possible. After breakfast maybe." He glanced around the kitchen. "Or maybe right now, on second thought; we can get some food there." We nodded and he looked at Li. "A portal please, then?" She nodded and turned away, focusing on an empty section of the kitchen. The others turned as well to watch, so I walked over to where Tori was looking at us in confusion. As I approached, she glanced up at me.

"What were you guys talking about?" She asked. I stopped in front of her and shrugged.

"Nothing much, except we've decided that we're going to take you to see Koenma." She frowned at that.

"Koenma? Botan mentioned him, but Yusuke stopped her from explaining who he was." She looked at me curiously. "When are we going?" I glanced over my shoulder as Li called up the portal.

"Now." She blinked and leaned to one side to see around me, looking startled to see the swirling, multi-colored circle in the middle of the kitchen.

"What's that?" Her voice held a certain measure of uncertainty, fear and awe in it

"A portal." I told her, looking at the construct with new eyes. I'd seen them so many times that they'd become commonplace, but to Tori, they'd be something totally foreign. "They're sort of like a short cut to places. We use them to go to the spirit world and the Makai."

"Oh." Her eyes were still wide as she stood up and walked with me to stand in front of the portal. Niseka, Kugo, Shiki, Toya, Yusuke, Kuwabara and the girls had all gone through, so we were the last ones except for Kurama and Li, who was still holding the portal open. Kurama gestured to the multi-colored space.

"Come on, you guys, we don't have all day." Tori glanced at him but almost immediately brought her eyes back to the portal, still fascinated by it. I touched her mind briefly.

_What are you waiting for? An invitation?_ I caught her wry smile at my sarcastic tone.

_No, just being a little slow to react right now. So, we just walk through it?_

_Yes. Now, let's go!_ Getting impatient, I put a hand on her back and pushed her slightly. She stumbled forward a couple of steps before coming to a stop, glaring over her shoulder at me then turning back and walking through the portal with as much dignity as she could muster. Before she went through, though, I caught the barbed remark she aimed at me.

_I'm perfectly capable of doing it on my own, Hiei, thank you very much_. I didn't bother to respond, following her through the portal.

We came out at the back of what looked like an office, complete with chairs, file cabinets and a desk piled with papers. Behind the papers on the desk, someone was scribbling away furiously at something or other. Behind me, Kurama and Li came through the portal and it collapsed in on itself, making Tori stare at the air where it had been until I tapped her shoulder to get her to face forward. Everyone else had found a seat on a chair, chair arm, floor or lap and was waiting for whoever was behind the desk to notice them. I took the vacant window seat, as I usually did and Kurama and Li took their seat closer to the desk, Kurama sitting on the chair with Li on the arm. Tori looked a little lost, so I gave her a mental nudge to come sit by me. She did so, making everyone else stare a little until I glared at them. No one said anything about it, though, except for Kugo's cough, so Tori didn't notice anything.

Finally, the person behind the desk finished what they were doing and pushed several other piles of paper aside.

(Tori's POV)

"George, I really can't be bothered with-"

I stared in surprise at the toddler sitting behind the desk. He stared back at me and I realized belatedly that he must be Koenma. Right on the heels of that thought came the question of where, exactly, we were. I had the sinking feeling that we weren't in the human world anymore.

"Who…who is this, Kurama? And who are these others?" Koenma's voice had lost the sharp tone it had had and replaced it with confusion. Kurama smiled slightly.

"Her name's Tori, but you'd probably be more familiar with Kaminari." Koenma's eyes went wide, but he didn't say anything as Kurama continued. "The others are Niseka, Toya, Kugo and Shiki." He pointed at them in turn as he said their names. Koenma nodded and glanced at them, then turned back to me.

"Kaminari, you said?" Kurama nodded, but Koenma wasn't watching him. "So you'd be the same Kaminari that terrorized the Makai for a period of twenty years and then disappeared twenty-two years ago?" I blinked at him, nonplussed.

"I-I don't know what you're talking about." I managed to say in a small voice, suddenly a little frightened by the intense look Koenma was giving me. (Has a toddler ever stared at you? It's creepy!) He frowned.

"What do you mean you don't know what I'm talking about?" At this point, he turned his gaze on Kurama and I sighed in relief as his eyes left mine. "Kurama, explain this, please." Kurama took a deep breath to speak, but Hiei spoke up before he had a chance to say anything. Everyone looked at him in surprise.

"She doesn't remember any of that." He said shortly. "About a year ago, she had her memories wiped voluntarily. All she knows about herself is what she's learned in the past year and what she's asked me to show her. She won't be able to answer your questions about Kaminari because she isn't Kaminari. She's Tori." I looked up at him, surprised that he'd say anything at all, let alone in my defense. He didn't look at me, but kept his eyes locked on Koenma, his expression hard and unreadable. Koenma's face showed surprise exceeding everyone else's.

"How can she not be Kaminari?" He asked, seemingly to himself. "Kurama, is what Hiei said true?" He turned back to the redhead in confusion. I pulled my knees up to my chest and rested my chin on them, feeling way out of my depth here. Behind me, Hiei shifted slightly, but I didn't turn to look at him, watching Kurama as he answered instead.

"Yes, it's true. She has absolutely no memory of her life before the turning of the year last year. Up until yesterday, in fact, she didn't even know she wasn't human." Koenma looked doubtful, so Kurama continued in a rush. "Hiei, Li and I all confirmed that, and she's shown that she does have the power, even control over it. What we came here to ask you is if you could-would-give her those memories back. If you won't or can't, then we need to know how we can teach her about her powers without her being consumed by them." Koenma blinked and sat back in the chair, looking thoughtful.

"Botan, get me the folder from about a year ago, the time when we were trying to track down that one demon with the dual-personality complex. I think there was something in there that will help with this situation." He said after a moment. Botan jumped up and darted over to one of the file cabinets, pulling out one of the drawers and flicking through the folders inside rapidly. Finding the one she wanted, she pulled it out and placed it on the desk in front of Koenma before returning to her seat. Koenma opened the folder and started to sift through the papers that were inside. A few seconds later, he held one piece up triumphantly.

"Ah! Here we go! This paper gives a detailed examination of a curious power usage approximately one year ago that wasn't properly investigated. When we did get around to looking into it, all we found was an old, fire-charred house that hadn't seen inhabitants in several years." My eyes went wide. Had the house been the same one I had seen when Hiei had shown me some of my memories? Koenma continued. "The power wasn't used in an attack or defense; the original reporter says here that it seemed like a rather extreme usage of basic mental powers. That would make sense if this report were on what happened to Kamin-Tori a year ago, when she had her memories wiped. Now, you said it was voluntary?"

This time, Li was the one who answered. "Yes, from what Hiei told us last night, she asked for it to be done, knowing full well what the consequences would be."

"Hmmm…" Koenma stared at the piece of paper he held in his hand, but I had the feeling that he wasn't really seeing it. Hiei shifted again behind me and I glanced back at him to see what was making him so uncomfortable.

To my shock, I saw a small creature no bigger than my hand lying on his leg, about two feet from my face. The thing had its rather long teeth dug into Hiei's leg and its red eyes were gleaming malevolently. Obviously, no one else was seeing it, because it they had, it probably wouldn't be there. Hiei's face was drawn in pain, but he couldn't see what was causing it and every time he moved, the creature's teeth dug in deeper. I bit my lip, unsure of what to do about it.

Reaching my mind out to Li hesitantly, I asked, _Li?_ I saw out of the corner of my eye that she turned to look at me in surprise, but I didn't take my eyes off the creature.

_What is it?_

_There's this…thing…on Hiei's leg and it's biting him._ Her eyes went wide and her mind-voice became more concerned.

_What does it look like?_ Silently, I thanked her that she hadn't doubted me, just took my word for it, since she obviously couldn't see it.

_It looks like a dragon. It's got dark blue scales, a red frill around its head and black claws. It's also about the size of my hand and it has red eyes_. Li looked like she was on the verge of panicking.

_Can you get it off?_

_I don't know. Does fire affect it?_ I saw her bite her lip and could feel the panic start to rise in me, as well.

_It…should._ She said. _I really don't know too much about that particular species, but…Kurama?_ I saw the redhead turn in the middle of answering one of the other's question to look at her.

_What is it?_ His mind-voice was slightly different from his actual voice, but I still recognized it as his.

_There's a Ligahi on Hiei's leg and Tori can see it_. She explained quickly. _Is there anything she can do?_

_Hmmm…Well, they're extremely susceptible to heat…Tori, you can hear me, right?_

_Yes._

_Okay, then go ahead and try to heat up the air around it. You have control over fire, so it shouldn't be too much of a leap._

_Right._ Frowning, I focused on the air around the- what had Li called it?-Ligahi. Bringing up the feeling from earlier that I had gotten when I had used my power, I thought about the molecules in the air starting to heat up. Hiei must have noticed the change in temperature, because he looked down with a scowl. He still couldn't see anything though and I just ignored him, not wanting to break my concentration. Finally, the air had heated up to about 120 degrees Fahrenheit and the Ligahi was now squirming in discomfort. Another forty degrees made it draw its teeth out of Hiei's leg. Not wanting to give it another chance to bite him, I quickly reached out and grabbed it. Releasing the heat in the air, I held the creature out at arm's length, not wanting it anywhere near me.

_Okay, I've got it. Now what?_ By now everyone was staring at me in confusion and I realized that I must have been the only one to see the Ligahi. I glanced around at them before returning my gaze to the squirming creature I held. Li continued to watch me, but her expression was one of concentration.

"Good." She said aloud. "Kurama, do you know where it is?" the redhead nodded.

"Yes. Give me a sec…" He frowned slightly and I watched in surprise as a thin vine grew around the Ligahi's small neck. The plant tightened, like a noose, and a few moments later, the Ligahi was dead. Dropping it to the floor in distaste, I looked up, only now really seeing the shocked and confused looks I was getting. Suddenly embarrassed, I pressed back into the wall, wishing I could just disappear. Shiki was the first to break the silence.

"Could someone please explain what just happened?" He was quickly seconded by everyone except for Li and Kurama. Hiei didn't bother speaking, but addressed me privately.

_What just happened?_ He asked, his mind-voice demanding an answer. I glanced up at him.

_Uh, there was this creature, Li called it a Ligahi, on your leg and I got it off. Kurama killed it_. His confused expression turned to one of shock.

_You could see it?_ I nodded.

_Yeah. Why couldn't anyone else?_

_I don't know exactly why no one can see them, but they just can't. That you can see one is very unusual._

_Oh. Well, you're welcome._

_Hn._ He turned away and looked over at the others who were now crowded around Li and Kurama, demanding answers. I smiled slightly as I saw Koenma trying to restore order, waving his hands around and shouting, but just adding to the chaos. Hiei seemed to be rather annoyed with this, so he decided to take care of it his own way.

"EVERYONE, SHUT UP!" In surprise, they all turned to look at him, their voices almost magically disappearing. "That's better." He settled back into his seat as the others quietly sat back down in their own. Koenma gratefully sat down and took control again.

"Ahem. Now, back to the problem of Tori. Not that you're a problem!" He added hastily as I cocked an eyebrow at him. "It's just that this was unexpected and I'm not entirely sure what to do." Shiki raised his hand. "Yes…Shiki, was it?"

"Uh, I could probably teach her some basics of being an Elemental, even though I'm Earth and she's Fire." He said, glancing at me. "It would be better than nothing." Koenma nodded.

"That's good." Kugo raised his hand.

"I'd bet that together Hiei and I could teach her fire stuff." He said. I glanced at Hiei to see his reaction and was startled to see him staring venomously at both Shiki and Kugo. In fact, if looks could kill or even damage, the other two would probably find themselves in serious trouble. Koenma either didn't see Hiei's expression or chose to ignore it, because he smiled at Kugo.

"That would be very good. I take it you four are staying with the boys and Li?" At their collective nod, he continued. "Good. Then Tori can also stay there. I will see you later, then." He absentmindedly pressed a button and I was startled to see another portal pop up out of nowhere. Everyone got up and headed through it, presumably back to the house. Hiei and I were the last ones to go, Li and Kurama going right before us. My mind too occupied by thoughts on my new found powers and other things, I didn't see the odd glance Li sent my way as she stepped through the portal, or the odd sign she made with one hand at the edge of the portal, or the way it became solid green. What I did notice was that the place I stepped out of the portal into was _not_ the mansion.

All around me were tall trees or, at least, I thought they were trees. They had so many vines and other plants growing on them, it was hard to tell for sure. Hiei emerged a second after I did and apparently the scene wasn't to his liking either.

"Where in the three worlds are we?!" He exclaimed loudly, looking around with a furious scowl on his face. He hadn't addressed the question to me, but I answered anyway.

"I don't know, but it looks like a jungle of some sort." I said, blinking as a large bird flew past, its brilliantly colored feathers reflecting the patchy sunlight.

"A jungle…? Not the Makai or the Underworld, then." He said, mostly to himself. There aren't any jungles in the Makai or the Underworld: not enough heat and moisture in one place. Somewhere off to our left, an animal of some sort roared and I was suddenly very glad that I wasn't here alone.

"Uh, is there any way we can get back?" I turned around, but the portal had already disappeared. Looking back to Hiei, I saw with surprise that he had already started off into the jungle. Hurriedly, I ran to catch up, not wanting to be left on my own. The fire demon didn't even turn to acknowledge my presence.

Twenty minutes later, the scenery hadn't changed except that the trees started to grow closer and closer and Hiei had to use his sword to hack out a path. Another ten minutes, and we came upon a section we couldn't see any break in. I was tired and my legs hurt by now, so when Hiei stopped to look at the wall of vines and other plants, I leaned against a tree. Unfortunately, I wasn't the only one using the tree at that time.

"Aieeeeeee!" I leapt up, trying to get the giant beetle off my shirt. Now that I was looking down, I saw that the beetle had brought friends and they had all decided to investigate me. Another scream brought me closer to Hiei, who had turned to look at me when I had first screamed. Seeing that he was just standing there, I glared at him.

"Get them off! Get them off of me! Now!" To my shock, I saw that he was trying very hard to stop himself from laughing. This only made me even angrier. "This isn't funny! Get them off of me!" Stifling his chuckles, he came over and started knocking the large insects off of me. Somehow, there was one in my hair, so he had to reach around me to get to it.

However, this brought our faces very close and I could feel the start of a blush creep across my face. Hiei hadn't moved and I had the feeling that even if I had wanted to, my body wouldn't have obeyed me. For what seemed like an eternity, but was probably only a minute, we stood there, not moving or talking. Then the harsh cawing of a nearby bird broke through the spell and I think we both realized what had happened. Hiei turned around almost angrily and started to hack at the wall of vines. Before he did so, though, I was pretty certain I had seen a faint blush cross his face.

Unbidden, I remembered yesterday when he had knocked me over after chasing Yusuke around. Then came the memory of Hiei glaring at Shiki on the way back. More recently was the memory of him glaring daggers at both Shiki and Kugo in Koenma's office. On top of all that, there was what had just happened, or rather, hadn't happened.

I looked at him, wondering for the first time what he actually thought about me. My musings were cut short, however, by a sudden pain in my abdomen. The pain was soon followed by pressure building up in my chest, restricting my breathing. Unable to use my voice anymore, I weakly tried to tell Hiei.

_Hiei…_ I couldn't form another thought as blackness started to creep in on the edges of my vision and I felt myself topple over onto the ground. Now I was unable to see at all, meaning I didn't see Hiei whip around in surprise or run over and lean over me in concern. I did hear his voice, as if from a long way off, though.

"Tori! Tori!" Then all became darkness.

* * *

A/N: There you have it. More artisitic license used as well as a bit of action and a dash of romance thrown in. Oh, and a bit of suspense for good measure.

Eventually, I'll put up a link to the map that I've come up with for my version of the Makai (since you never get one in the series) and you'll be able to see where things are in relation to each other. I'll also (somehow) make Jesa's Guide available at some point, but that'll be a while, so just stick with me until then.

Next chapter should be up tomorrow if I have time. Again, sorry about the delay on this one.

Haliaetus


	7. Kaminari

A/N: Whoot. I'm back. Rejoice in my presence...

Anyway, still don't own YuYu Hakusho (why do I bother with this?) and don't forsee it at any point in my forseeable future.

So, as you can see in the last chapter, there _is_ an element of romance in this thing, though most of it won't be until later. And, fianlly, we get introduced to the lady of the moment, Kaminari herself.

* * *

(Hiei's POV)

I felt Tori's consciousness slip away despite my best efforts to keep her awake. Staring at her still form, I racked my brain, trying to figure out what would have caused her to faint like this. She had fallen on her side, with her face towards the ground. Gently, I rolled her onto her back and looked down into her face anxiously. To my surprise, I saw her start to wake up, even though I couldn't feel the return of her consciousness. The reason why became apparent when she opened her eyes.

Her eyes were solid amber, with no pupil or blue at all. I backed away a short ways as she sat up, realizing with dread what that meant. For a moment, she looked around, taking in her surroundings. Then she stood and seemed to see me for the first time. A small smile curved her lips, but I wasn't reassured.

"Ah, Hiei. Long time no see. You don't look like you've changed at all." Her eyes hadn't been the only thing to change. Now, her voice was raspier and lower. I nodded, wondering how in the three worlds she had been able to break free.

"No. You don't look a day older…Kaminari." Kaminari laughed, the sound setting my nerves on edges.

"I see you think of me the same way as you always have. How many times must I tell you that I'm not as bad as you seem to think I am?" I shrugged, hating the very sound of her voice.

"I can't say as I've had the chance to see otherwise." My mind drifted back in time to a point in the Makai's history when there had been great discord.

It had been during a great war between the Makai denizens and the underworld that I had first met Kaminari. A band of malcontent demons had rebelled against the Underworld's restrictions. More and more demons had followed their example until nearly the entire Makai was in rebellion. During that time, nearly everyone had to choose sides, but I had managed to stay neutral. Such chaos provided many opportunities to steal from both sides and I was soon fairly well provisioned.

At one point, I had been at Devil's Fingers, a natural outcrop of rock reaching nearly two thousand feet into the air, relaxing after a long day. I hadn't really been expecting to see anyone else up there, so the faint whistle of a flying arrow caught me by surprise. Even so, a last minute movement let the arrow bury its flaming head in the rock beside me. Surprised, I examined the arrow. Giving a low whistle, I turned to look at the rock behind me. Whoever had shot the arrow must have been really good; the arrow had buried itself deeply into the solid rock, the flint arrowhead stuck so deep that even I couldn't pull it out.

A quick movement from my left drew my attention. Casting my mind around, I quickly located the demon. To my surprise, it was a girl. Her mind seemed normal, but the readings I was getting from her aura were impossible. There was no way a combination like that could possibly exist, let alone be so powerful.

"Who are you?" My voice echoed emptily back from the sheer rock in front of me. For a moment, there was silence, then a thin string of laughter echoed back, followed by a low and silky voice.

"Well, I have to admit, you're better that I expected." The speaker came slowly around the rock outcropping to stop about twenty paces in front of me.

She was tall, with long auburn hair that reached her waist. Practically attired in pants and a loose shirt with boots and a hat, she had an air of self-confidence. What drew my attention, though, were her eyes. They were solid amber, but with no pupil. Suddenly, what I was seeing matched up with the readings I had been getting and I realized whom I was dealing with.

"Kaminari?" I asked hesitantly, praying I was wrong and knowing in my very being that I wasn't. She smiled, but it wasn't to reassure me. My hand went to the sword hanging at my side and her eyes followed the movement.

"Ah, good, I see you have it with you. This will simplify things." She said, taking a step forward, her eyes still on the sword. I glared at her.

"I'm not giving it back, if that's what you want." I said sharply, drawing her attention back to me. The sword had been stolen from her grandfather, the renowned dragon demon Suki-taka-hi, who had only used the sword for ceremonial purposes. I would use it for what it had been made for, fighting and killing. Besides, it was easily the best sword I had ever handled. Tempered by dragon flame and made of the bluest steel, it was decorated with a dragon curled around the hilt and a flame engraved on the blade. None could compare to it and I wasn't about to let it out of my grasp so easily; I had gone through quite a bit of trouble just to get it. The demoness in front of me narrowed her eyes.

"I hope you know what you're doing, because I don't want to have to take the time to explain. My grandfather needs that sword if he is to conduct the ceremony that will make me the ruler of my clan. Besides that, it is my inheritance and I want it back!" She lunged at me, a grasping light in her eyes. I sped out of the way to the left, wondering how in the three worlds I had gotten myself into this mess. Kaminari must have really been out of sync, however, because she just charged right past when I would have expected her to pivot and come after me. With horror, I saw that she was headed straight for the edge of the cliff.

Without thinking, I dove forward, reaching out to grab her arm just as her foot left the solid rock. Wrenching my arms back, I tossed her behind me to the rock wall twenty yards away. This move placed me dangerously close to the edge, but my momentum spun me away, back into the safe zone.

For a moment, neither of us said anything; we were both trying to get our second wind. Then I heard Kaminari's voice, weak, but still retaining the imperiousness. "Keep it... Think of it as...payment. For a service rendered." I turned to look at her, not sure I was actually hearing what I thought I was hearing.

Kaminari was sitting with her back against the rock, obviously disheveled, but still wearing a defiant face. The half-smile she had somehow didn't seem as insincere as the one she'd used earlier. I frowned and she snorted, in amusement, I think.

"Don't...frown. I liked it better...when you defied me. The sword seems to suit you. I'm sure Grandfather will understand once I explain. Besides, you'll need it if you're to survive until...until..." She faded off and I frowned again, but this time she didn't say anything.

"...Kaminari?" No answer. I sighed and stood up. "Well, I guess I'll be leaving, then..." With that, I left the unconscious demoness behind for good, I thought.

Now, I stared at her again, nearly four hundred years later, and a shiver went down my spine as I stared into those same golden eyes. Self-consciously, I fingered the hilt of the sword that still hung at my side. Kaminari's eyes followed the movement.

"Ah, so you still have it, I see. Have you put it to good use? I wouldn't want my gift to go to waste after all." I snorted.

"Don't worry. It's seen its fair share of bloodshed since. However, the sword doesn't matter at the moment. What really matters is how in the three worlds you got free." Kaminari sighed and slid down so she was sitting against the tree. I warily sat down as well, keeping alert for any hidden tricks.

"Ah...yes. I was really hoping that we could avoid this discussion, but I guess it wasn't meant to be. Very well, I will answer your questions to the best of my ability, though I do not know the entire story myself." She sat down with her back against the tree and I sat down as well, still alert for any tricks she might have up her sleeve.

"You wished to know how I broke free of the bonds that kept my consciousness imprisoned, correct?" I nodded slowly. "It seems that the old man who placed this binding on me forgot one small detail. In weaving the binding, he left out a crucial part." She glanced up, then, and looked me in the eye. "He forgot to erase my emotions."

-Back at the mansion, half an hour earlier-

(Shiki's POV)

I glanced around at the food-strewn kitchen as I stepped out of the portal. Behind me, Kurama also stepped through and Li-Sanya followed him. The others were already in the room and were starting to pick up. The portal collapsed and I was suddenly aware of the absence of Hiei and Tori's minds. A quick scan of the group told me that they weren't there. I turned to look at Li-Sanya, since she'd been the last to come through the portal, wondering if she knew where they were.

I had been about to confront her directly about it, but a quick brush against her mind quickly changed my objectives. She knew something; I knew that much, but to know what that knowledge was would require something much more subtle than a confrontation. If I asked her right out, she would never tell me. I would have to corner her later.

My opportunity came about an hour later, in the form of a training session. For some reason, no one thought it odd that neither Hiei nor Tori had shown up at all and they all went about their business as usual. So, while Kurama trained the two human boys, Kugo, and Toya (The latter two were there simply to brush up on their skills), I found a chance to get Li-Sanya alone in the living room.

She had gone in to find something to read, or so she said. Indeed, when I followed her into the large room, she was pulling a large, leather-bound volume off of the shelf. Without even a glance in my direction, she settled herself in one of the comfortable chairs and opened it using a considerable amount of power. I watched as she quickly flipped to a page in the middle of the book and begin to read.

I bit my lip, curious despite myself. What was this book that it required such power to open, let alone read? What was Li-Sanya reading? Making a decision, I pushed my question about the two missing demons aside to satisfy my curiosity about the book. I coughed gently.

Li-Sanya looked up, seemingly unsurprised, but I could tell by the way her hands tightened on the volume that she truly hadn't known I was there. Her voice also betrayed her unease. "Can I help you, Shiki?"

"Uh, yeah, actually." Suddenly I was filled with unreasonable fear at what I might learn. "I, uh, was just wondering, uh, what that book you're reading is…" I trailed off, feeling stupid for asking as she studied me with those golden orbs. Then she sighed and the spell was broken.

"Come here, Shiki, and close the door behind you." She said in resignment, beckoning me not with just her hands but her voice also. I was drawn into the room as surely as if I had had a rope tied around my waist. The room seemed to shrink, leaving Li and I in our own little world, cut off from the rest of the earth.

I stopped next to the chair she was sitting in. The book in her lap seemed to glow faintly with its own light, separate from the light streaming in through the wide windows. When she spoke, Li-Sanya's voice seemed to blend into the encroaching twilight.

"This book is a guide, a beacon to those who can use it, showing the way to a better understanding of the worlds we live in. however, there is a deeper power to this object, one that few know of and even fewer can evoke. I will show the effects of this power to you now, so that you might understand. Some of what you will see is things you already know, other visions will seem spectacular, but keep in mind that everything you see is completely true…"

I heard her voice with only one ear; the book had been steadily growing brighter and brighter until I could see nothing else. Then all connection with the material world dissipated and I was let loose in the world of dreams and visions.

_I was falling. All around me were clouds, or what looked like clouds. No matter where I looked, I could see nothing. This lasted for an indeterminable amount of time. Finally, something solid loomed up out of the mist. As it came closer, or as I drew nearer, I began to see more and more detail. First to register was the shape._

_It was a castle. The walls loomed above me and the four main towers rose above the rest. Within the outer walls was a tall building, the main keep. Close up, the walls defined themselves into large granite bricks, set one on top of the other with nothing but gravity and themselves to keep them there._

_Directly in front of me was a large, double-door gateway. As I looked at it, I saw that it was beginning to open, as if to admit me, though I saw no person manning it as I floated through the now open door. Gently, I landed in the court. The silence around me was almost plausible, so oppressive was it. Seeing another open doorway, I started to walk towards it, my footsteps seeming unnaturally loud to me._

_Inside, I found myself in a lavish reception hall, with suits of armor lined up against the walls and thick carpet. Somehow, I was reminded of the mansion, though the decorators of this place obviously had had a more lavish taste._

_The first room I looked into was bare except for a large mirror hanging on the wall. As I gazed across the small room, I thought I heard a whisper. Dismissing it as just my hyper-alert nerves, I started to pull back out of the room. Then I heard it again. This time, it was unmistakable and I listened closely._

_"**Look in me…**"__ My breathing slowed as I tried to determine where the voice was coming from. A mental scan told me that there was nothing alive in this place, so who had spoken?_

_"**Look in me…**"__ Suddenly, something occurred to me. Feeling distinctly uneasy, I slowly turned around to look into the mirror room again. Was it just me, or was the mirror glowing? _

_"**Look in me…**"__ The voice seemed a bit more urgent now, as if the speaker was trying to tell me something. Carefully, I stepped into the room. __"**Look in me…**"__ The voice was coming more and more often now, until it was just a continuous hissing in my ears. Now the mirror was definitely glowing. Slightly fearful, but curious, I stepped closer to it. The whispering grew in volume._

_By now, I was about five feet away from the mirror and I could see just how big it was. Easily ten by ten feet, it dominated the wall it was hung on and the room. Turning my attention to the actual surface, I got a surprise. At this distance, I should have been able to see my entire body, yet all I saw was the wall behind me, empty except for the closed door._

_Wait. Closed? I had opened the door but hadn't closed it, so why was it closed. A quick glance over my shoulder reassured me that it was still open, but the reflection in the mirror continued to tell me that it was closed. I wasn't given much time to dwell on this, however, because as I looked in the mirror, the door started to open._

_The image seemed to zoom in on the opening door, and I felt myself being dragged along with it, an invisible audience to the visions the mirror was showing me. Outside the door was a large room just like the one outside the room I still stood in. the difference, though, was that it was filled with people bustling everywhere as if in a great hurry. As I looked at them, I realized that they were all demons, every single one of them. To my surprise, I found that I was recognizing most of them. There went that fox demon I'd known from the shore of the Midnight Sea. Going by was the dog demon I'd met in Demon City. Across the hall, talking to one of the servants, was a fire demon that looked a lot like Kugo. Then he turned and I realized that it _was_ Kugo. Toya went by in the company of a younger ice demoness. I spotted Niseka talking to a group of mixed demons, obviously enjoying herself. Then I saw her. _

_Kaminari was watching the whole affair from a throne-like contraption that was situated on a raised dais at the end of the hall. Tall and elegant, she exuded an icy confidence that I could feel all the way from where I was. Her amber eyes scanned the crowd of guests in a slow arc, taking everything in. Then she saw me, or seemed to, at any rate. She stared at the spot where I was standing for a long moment. Suddenly, she smiled, a small, secretive smile, and continued to inspect the throng. Confused, I made a mental note to ask Li when I got back. Then the scene changed and I was presented with a whole new set of mysteries to contemplate. _(1)

-In the jungle-

(Hiei's POV)

I frowned. "Your emotions? Why would that have mattered?" She raised an eyebrow at me.

"Now, don't go acting stupid." She admonished me. "You know as well as I do about the power of emotions. After all, it was only through your emotions that you could summon such powers as the Dragon of Darkness Flame. Tori's emotions act in a similar way. The higher her emotion, the more unstable her control over her power becomes until she is as out of control as a demon under the influence of Hyten1."

I frowned. "Then…if her emotions made her unstable enough and if enough of you were still 'conscious', then you could conceivably break through." I said, finally getting what she was trying to explain.

"Correct. However, each time this happens, it will be easier and easier for me to become freed until finally I just stay the dominant one." That brought me down hard. Tori would be gone?

"How could she prevent that from happening? I mean, she seems pretty happy as she is now and it's definitely an improvement over you."

"Hey! I wasn't _that_ bad!" She protested. "I'll have you know that you simply happened to catch me in a bad mood."

"Of course." I couldn't help but grin. Kaminari looked at me intently. My smile faded as she continued to stare at me. "What is it? Why are you looking at me like that?"

"When did you learn to smile?" She asked, confused, her amber eyes searching my face. "When I knew you, you would never have smiled unless you were enjoying a particularly challenging fight or killing someone. So why do you smile now?"

I hesitated, unsure of what to say. The truth was, I hadn't really given it much thought. It just seemed natural now to smile every so often if the situation was amusing enough. Somehow, I had gone from cold and heartless to ill tempered and surly and my resolution to never let myself be open to such foolish emotions as humor or friendship had gone down the drain.

"I…I don't know, really." I said, still a little off balance. "I think it was when Li-Sanya came to live with us. There was something about her that just made you want to smile when she did." Kaminari didn't seem convinced.

"Hmm. Well, I think it was when Tori came. Judging by her emotions, she obviously has a-Gack!" I leaned forward, alarmed, as she suddenly winced and held her head.

"Kaminari? What is it?" I asked, suddenly worried.

"I…dang it all…she's more powerful than I thought she'd be…" Kaminari's words came in gasps, as if she was having a hard time breathing. "I'll…see you later…Hiei." She slumped over, abruptly unconscious. I scooted forward cautiously, not sure what to make of all this. Slowly, I reached out to shake her, only to realize that she was regaining consciousness. This time, though, she looked up at me in confusion; her eyes were amber with the blue centers and black pupils. Tori was back in control.

"…Hiei?" She stared at me in confusion. "What happened?"

* * *

(1) That whole bit right there, with the Guide and Shiki? That comes into play a whole lot farther into the story, so although it doesn't really matter right now, it will later on, so keep it in mind. Just a heads up.

* * *

A/N: Whoot (again). There's Kaminari for you guys. Cool chick, no? Don't worry, though; Tori's fine. It's kinda like their conciousnesses switch spots when Kaminari takes over; Tori goes into a forced sleep while Kaminari is free and vice versa. They're just cool like that.

Oh, yeah. I almost forgot. I posted this in complete faith that at least one person wants to continue reading it since I got--count 'em--absolutely no reviews for the last chapter. Which means I'm sitting here, lonely without you guys' words of encouragement. Hope to hear from _someone_ this time!

I've got nothing else, so I'll see you next chapter.

Haliaetus


	8. Abduction

A/N: These are probably going to get shorter and shorter until they waste to nothing unless I get feedback from my readers. I'll have you all know that this is currently still being posted due to the fact that _some_ people reviewed early on and said they loved it, thus my continuing belief that not everyone out there hates me (since when did I think this again?).

Disclaimer still applies. As I've said before, I really should get a generic one to simply paste into each chapter so I don't have to bother writing these annoying things out...

* * *

(Tori's POV)

I blinked in surprise as Hiei sighed in relief. Why would he be relieved about something, let alone me? He stood up and held out a hand to me. Taking it, I let him pull me to my feet. Doing so, however, brought me even closer to him than before and this time, we were holding hands since he hadn't let go.

"I…" I tried to say something, but my voice wouldn't work. Suddenly unsure of myself, I looked away from him and studied the ground instead. Feeling his other hand rest gently on my shoulder, I glanced up at him, curious.

"Tori…" He took a deep breath and continued. "Tori, there's something I want to tell you. I-" he was suddenly cut off by what sounded like Kugo's voice.

"Huh. So the high an' mighty Hiei does have emotions after all." Hiei and I shot away from each other and looked around for the other fire demon. I found him sitting in the tree that had been behind me, smiling and looking like he'd just had the laugh of his life.

"Hey, guys! Li-Sanya sent me to get you. Said you'd taken long enough." He pushed off the branch he was sitting on and landed lightly on the ground. Hiei glared at him, but it only extracted a snort from the taller fire demon. "So Hiei is embarrassed, hmm? Well, don't worry, your secret is safe with me."

I glanced between the two fire demons, confused. What was Kugo talking about? Hiei seemed to get over it, whatever 'it' was, and finally spoke.

"Well, if Li sent you, she must have given you a means to get back to the mansion, correct?" His voice was perfectly controlled and even. Kugo nodded.

"Yep. Here. Catch." He tossed something to Hiei. Examining it, Hiei nodded.

"Good. Come on, Tori; let's get back to the mansion. This lowlife won't be needing this anymore." Pressing a small button on the object, he looked up at the swirling vortex that appeared. I jumped, startled at the portal's sudden appearance, even though I'd seen it twice before already. Following Hiei through the portal, I caught Kugo's last indignant remark.

"Hey! How am I supposed to get out of here?!"

(Li's POV)

I watched as Hiei and Tori stepped out of the portal into the living room where I'd been reading. Smiling slightly as I realized that Kugo wasn't with them, I stealthily sent a tendril of thought into both of their minds.

Hiei's was in turmoil, I assumed because of Kugo, though a detailed investigation of the matter told me more. Tori's mind was also rather untidy, but that was mainly because she was so confused. I made a mental note to explain everything to her later.

"Welcome back." I said drawing attention to myself as the portal blinked out of existence. Hiei and Tori both looked at me in surprise, obviously not expecting to see me there. "I trust you had a beneficial and informational trip?" Hiei frowned as he realized the implications of my question. Tori also frowned, but only because the question confused her even more.

"I suppose you could say that." Hiei's voice was tight with anger. I just smiled. Tori, surprisingly, didn't say anything, but turned a rather bright shade of red. Another mental note was added to my mental bulletin board to find out exactly what had transpired during their 'excursion.'

"Well, there's lunch in the kitchen if you want it. We've already eaten, but you're welcome to have anything still on the table." I continued. They nodded and proceeded out of the room, headed for the kitchen. As soon as I was sure they were gone, I turned and summoned a new portal. Kugo stepped through almost immediately.

"Took you long enough." He said with a grin. I smiled and indicated one of the other chairs. He sat down and I began my interrogation.

-That night-

(Shiki's POV)

When I finally opened my eyes, the first thing I noticed was the lack of light. Blinking, I looked around me. I was still in the living room, but there was no one else in the room with me. On the chair next to me, a book was laying open. Curious, I stood up to take a look. To my surprise, the pages were blank.

"Huh. That's weird." I muttered to myself, reaching out to close the book. As soon as I touched it, though, a shock went through me and I found myself sitting on the floor with a smarting hand. Massaging my hand, I stood up again and looked at the book with some consternation. "What the heck is that thing?"

Suddenly, I heard a sound behind me. Twirling around, I stared at the figure standing in the open door. Because of the differences in the lighting, I couldn't make out the features of the person standing there, but the figure was that of a young woman.

"What did you see, Shiki?" As she spoke, I realized who it was.

"Oh, Li, it's you. You startled me." She stepped into the room.

"Shiki…answer a question for me, please. What are you doing in here?" She didn't sound mad, rather, she seemed curious and a bit apprehensive. Still, I couldn't help feeling a bit defensive.

"I wasn't doing anything bad, but now that you mention it, I don't really remember. Do you know?"

She paused before answering. "…No. I don't. It's almost eleven, though, so you'd better get to bed. Oh, I almost forgot. Hiei and Tori are back. Tomorrow you can begin her tutoring in Elemental basics."

"Right. Good night, then." I started past the cat demoness. Remembering something, I paused in the doorway and turned back. "Oh, Li-Sanya?"

"Yes, Shiki?"

"Who's Vermilion?" I heard a definite gasp from Li, but her answer contrasted.

"I don't know. Good night, Shiki."

-Four days later-

(Tori's POV)

I woke up with my whole body aching. Groaning, I rolled heavily out of bed and dragged my protesting body into the bathroom for a desperately needed bath.

For the past few days, I had been having lessons with Kugo and Hiei to learn how to use my abilities with fire and lessons with Shiki to learn about being an elemental. Although most of the lessons were about mental exercises and similar stuff, I was still left as worn out as if I had had a physical workout for the same amount of time. Times that by four and I was left with a very sore body. The bath felt heavenly, as it always did. As I came out of the bathroom in a cloud of steam, there was a knock at the door. Quickly pinning my hair up in a messy bun, I opened the door.

Shiki was revealed standing there and I smiled at him, opening the door wider as I invited him in. coming in, he relaxed into a chair as I undid the bun and started to French braid my hair.

"Tori..." He started. I glanced at him. "Tori, I want to ask you something. Do you enjoy living here?"

I nodded emphatically. "Oh, yeah! It's so much better than where I was living. Besides, I've got _friends_ here. Back there, I had no one." I sighed. "I'd take this over that any day."

"I see…" He was quiet for a moment. "Do you have any family?" I turned my attention fully on him, suddenly wondering where this was going.

"I have no family that I remember." I told him slowly. "But I know I had family at one point. I haven't had any for the past year, though. Why are you asking?" Shiki suddenly looked rather uncomfortable.

"Uh, well, y'see…Li was thinking about letting you stay here for good. She's already talked to Koenma, Kurama and Yusuke and they've said it's all right." He ran a hand through his moss green hair. "Will you? I'd like it if you would…" He trailed off as I stood and went to stand by the open window.

I leaned on the windowsill, my half-braided hair falling over my shoulder. Shiki stood and came to stand just behind me, but I didn't turn to look at him. Instead, I spoke as if I was addressing the tree that grew not twenty feet from the window.

"I don't remember my home, my family, my friends. I have no memory of anything from before a year ago. Since then, I've lived off of scraps, barely scraping together enough money to pay the rent of a small room in a run-down apartment. I had maybe three sets of clothes and jewelry was too expensive and valuable for me to afford." I paused and looked down at the floor for a moment before continuing. "Then I met you guys and my life has changed so much. For the first time in my life, I feel like I'm wanted and liked. I feel like I'm home when I'm with you guys." My voice dropped to a whisper. "And I don't want that to disappear."

Shiki didn't say anything. He just stepped forward and wrapped his arms around me in a reassuring hug. Suddenly overcome with my own emotion, I turned and buried my face in his shoulder, allowing the tears to finally escape.

"Shh." Shiki's voice was quiet and calming, like a peaceful meadow. "Shh. It's okay. You don't have to be like that anymore. We're here for you: I'm here. Just let it all go." For an eternity we stood there, me crying silently and him just letting me. Finally, I had no more tears and Shiki released me so I could dry my eyes.

As I pulled away slightly, I happened to glance past the earth elemental. To my surprise, I saw Hiei standing in the doorway. For a brief second, we stared at each other. Then he scowled and turned away, disappearing down the hall. Turning back to Shiki, I wondered what Hiei had wanted and how long he had been there.

Later, after freshening up again, I went downstairs with Shiki for breakfast. As we descended the wide flight of stairs, something occurred to me and I glanced at Shiki curiously.

"Hey, Shiki?" He looked at me.

"Yeah?"

"What happened to Li a few days ago? I fell asleep on the way back and I never heard the story." I frowned in confusion as his expression darkened. He turned away and pressed his lips together tightly.

"I think you had better ask Li for that, Tori." He said in a tense tone. "Asking me wouldn't give you a very good answer. Now, let's focus on breakfast."

After breakfast, I quickly made my way to the room where I practiced my fire control with Kugo and Hiei. I wanted to get there before they did so I would have a chance to practice some of what they had been teaching me. Oddly enough, I had nearly half and hour to myself before they showed up. As the door opened to admit them, I quenched the fire I had been holding and turned to look at them.

"Hey, guys--what's wrong?" My greeting turned into a confused question as I took in their uneasy expressions. I looked back and forth between them as I waited for an answer.

"Nothing. Let's get started." Kugo moved as if to go past me to where the weapons were arrayed along the wall. I shifted to block him.

"Uh-uh. Not until you tell me what's going on." I crossed my arms and stared at them stubbornly. They exchanged a cryptic glance and sighed together. Hiei gestured at the bench nearby.

"Sit down, Tori." I obeyed, keeping my eyes on them as they also sat down. "What we're going to tell you is the complete truth. It is also happening right now, as we speak."

Kugo picked up the thread. "Shiki's already told us that you wanted to know what had happened to Li a few days ago. We can't tell you exactly what was going on, but we can give you a pretty detailed background of it.

"In the Makai, the demon world, and in the Underworld, there are certain forces that keep the order and preserve what peace there is. Granted, there are times when they fail, as does any government, but what's happening right now is on a much larger scale than any other we have seen or heard of.

"What's going on is this: A powerful demon has gathered a large band of followers and is intent on overthrowing those forces. He has terrible powers available to him, worse than you could ever imagine. One of those powers is the power of possession and substitution. In short, what happened to Li is that she fell victim to this power and was possessed and replaced in the same instant. What you saw was not the real Li, it was simply a golom, a construct of earth and air with the semblance of Li. The real Li, as you know, was hidden away in the forest under a spell."

Hiei put in his part. "Why the demon singled out Li and you out of so many other possibilities, we don't know, but we aren't about to let it happen again. From now on, Li wants you to be in sight of at least two of us at all times."

I frowned. "Even when I'm sleeping?" Hiei nodded.

"Yes, even then. You'll be rooming with Li and Niseka for now."

"Okay, so what you're saying is that there is this big powerful dude in the demon world who possessed Li and kidnapped her just to get at me?" I asked, slightly scared. What would I do if it happened again? Hiei might not be there to save me, then and I didn't really know very much about my powers to protect myself. The two fire demons nodded. "I see. So-"

I never got to finish my question because just then, the door exploded inward and in the cloud of dust that resulted, I could see a tall figure that I knew instinctively was not one of my friends'. Hiei and Kugo jumped up and stood in front of me, as if to protect me from whomever the person was.

The dust settled and I caught my first glimpse of our unwelcome guest. He was tall, as I already knew, and was dressed in armor made of leather and steel. At his waist was a long sword with no sheath. In his right hand, he held a long scythe. His eyes were a blazing yellow and were partially obscured by his shaggy pale blonde hair. All in all, the impression I got from him was that he was used to power and had great confidence in that power to get him what he wanted.

When he spoke, his voice was deep and reverberated through my bones. "Where is she?" Kugo took a deep breath before answering, his usually light tones gone.

"Where is who?" The tall man glared at Kugo and the fire demon almost visibly shrunk.

"Where is Kaminari, you fool!" He bellowed. I winced at his tone. Then his words registered. He was looking for Kaminari. He was looking for me. Hiei stared up at the giant.

"She isn't here." He said, placing one hand lightly on his sword hilt.

"What do you mean, not here? This is where my instruments and Sight led me. She must be here. Who is that?" I winced again as I realized he had seen me. Hiei didn't flinch, though.

"Her name is not Kaminari and she's our ward." I glanced up at the tall man, wondering how he would take this.

"What is her name?" He rumbled in a less intense voice.

"Her name is-" Hiei began to answer, but Kugo beat him to it.

"Kiku. Her name is Kiku." He said, seeming to dare the man to challenge it. For a long moment, no one spoke and the tall man looked at Kugo hard. Finally he snorted.

"Very well. I am sorry to have disturbed you." He gave a short bow. "My apologies, Kiku-san." He seemed sincere enough, but as he left, I was aware of his eyes on me, as if he knew who I was, that Kugo had lied about my name. Then he was gone and we could relax. Hiei turned to look at me.

"I think we now know a little more about why it was you he singled out." He said. Kugo and I nodded in agreement, more than a little shaken up after the encounter.

Just then, Li and Kurama came into the room, looking worried and frantic. "Tori!" Li ran over to me and hugged me tightly. "Oh, thank the gods you're all right! We were just talking and we had just figured out why that guy would want you when I sensed him here. He didn't do anything, did he?" I shook my head, but it was Kugo who answered.

"No, he didn't do anything except destroy the door and give us all a rather big surprise." He said wryly, coming over to place a hand on my shoulder. By now the others had arrived and my friends surrounded me, each doing their best to make sure I was all right and to cheer me up. Everyone, that is, except Hiei. He just stood off to the side and watched as the others made a big fuss about me. Gradually, we made our way back to the living room, but Hiei didn't follow. I made a mental note to find him later.

The rest of my day was filled with chaos, however, and I didn't get a chance to get Hiei alone. For the most part, actually, I just stayed stationary in the living room while everyone else ran around like chickens with their heads cut off.

Finally, at about eight at night, everyone seemed to wind down and I was able to excuse myself to go to bed. As I mounted the stairs, I felt the brush of Hiei's mind against mine and I looked up. He was standing at the top of the stairs, his hands thrust deep in his pockets.

Do you have a moment? He asked silently. I nodded and when he turned around and walked off, I followed. Oddly, he led me to his room, just a short ways down the hall from mine.

Like my room, his was decorated to reflect his personality and powers. The walls were a charcoal gray, the carpet a light ash, and the curtains the bedcovers were black. A few of the accent pillows on the bed were red and orange, however, adding a bit of color to the somber color scheme.

Hiei gestured to one of the chairs and I took a seat. He perched on the arm of a different chair across the room and took a moment to study the stitched pattern of the fabric before looking at me. I tried to read his emotions, but his mind as well as his face was closed to me.

"Tori…" His voice was soft. "Tori, I don't know how to say this, but please try to understand. When that demon-" I started involuntarily. So the man _had_ been a demon. I'd been wondering and no one had explained. "-burst in, I didn't think before I acted. I don't know what the others have told you about me—frankly, I don't want to know—but I can at least tell you that for me to do that was unprecedented." I nodded when he paused, encouraging him to continue. "To be honest, even I'm not sure of why I did it, but it's what I did, so I must have had a reason, but…after the others came, I was still confused; I didn't know what was going on within me. Now, though, I think I know why I did what I did. Tori, it's because I-"

Before he could say why, though, the window across the room shattered and the curtains flapped in the sudden wind. In the moonlight streaming in through the open window, I could see a figure silhouetted against the sky. When the intruder dropped down into the room, I knew who it was we were dealing with. The man was smiling as he strode easily across to where I was frozen in my seat. I knew it then, like I'd never known anything before; he knew who I was, had known it all the time, and was coming for me.

Later, when I recalled the incident, I could never remember why Hiei hesitated that crucial second, but he did and in that second, the man had seized me and was halfway out the window. He had me tucked under his arm, like a bag, and he smiled down at me as he swung out the window.

"Now, you'll be a good little girl, right? If you try anything, I'll send you to sleep and then you'd miss out on what happens to your friends. I'm sure you wouldn't want that, now would you?" His voice was mocking, even as he insinuated a tendril of honey sweetness into it. I was still in shock, so I couldn't reply. Apparently, he took this as a yes and swung down the side of the mansion to the window that looked into the living room.

Everyone except Hiei was lounging in the chairs and couches in the large, bright room, but I could see that they were far from happy. Indeed, several of them looked about as tense as I'd ever seen them. As I watched, the door burst open and Hiei came tumbling into the room headfirst. Following him were several demons, tough looking and obviously strong, seeing as they were able to toss Hiei around like that.

The man forced me to watch as all of my friends were brutally beaten close to death. The last one standing was Niseka and she was spattered with the bright blue blood of the two demons she'd exploded with her powers. She was obviously worn out, though, and swaying where she stood. The remaining three demons circled around her and took her out from behind. The man holding me laughed and I found myself flying away from the mansion, away from my friends.

As I was carried through the night sky, the only thing that escaped me were tears. I cried silently as I was taken away from everything that I had known to be true.


	9. Found

A/N: Disclaimer still applies, but I'm just going to let you guys read this time. No annoying little monologue up here for you to be distracted by...

* * *

-A week later-

(Hiei's POV)

I stared out the window of the room I had occupied since Tori had been kidnapped. Unable to stay in my room because of damage and memory, I had taken one of the unused rooms on the third story. Now, I was looking out the large bay window in the south wall, not really looking at anything in particular.

It had been a week since Tori had been taken by the demon and not a single lead had been picked up to point to her location. Even Koenma, sending out his best spies and contacting his best resources had been unable to find a trace of her. Kurama and I had picked the thieves' world clean, but to no avail. Li had pulled a few strings and called in several favors, but with no answers. Shiki, Kugo, Toya and Niseka had gone out on several ventures in both the human and demon worlds, with similar results. Tori and her kidnapper seemed to have disappeared without a trace.

Once more, but with no expectations of finding anything, I cast my mind and third eye out to search for Tori's or Kaminari's energy readings and presence. As usual, I got nothing. Sighing, I started to withdraw. Then I felt it, a sudden power surge directly to the south, but not in the human world. Quickly tracking the energy signal, I located its source. Straight away, I identified the energy readings as Kaminari's.

"So he's gotten her, has he?" I muttered to myself as I restored myself and ran down the halls to find the others. "Well, if he thinks he can handle her in one of her moods, he's got another think coming. Wonder how he did it, though…" Just then, I slid around the corner into the living room and thankfully, everyone was there. Gasping for breath, I stared wildly into their startled expressions.

"I've found her! I've…found Kaminari!"

-Devil's Fingers, earlier that day-

(Third Person POV)

The gnarled crone hobbled into the expansive and richly decorated room. At the far end, past matching lines of soldiers standing at perfect attention, was a large throne with a figure lounging on it. The only light was focused on the throne, making details hard to see. As the crone approached the throne, however, she began to make out the powerful build of the man on the throne, his pale hair and piercing yellow eyes.

Stopping several dozen paces away from the foot of the dais, the crone, collapsed into a bow on the floor, waiting for the man's permission to rise. It was not long in coming.

"Rise, Kagi, and tell me what is going on with the girl." The man's voice was not unkind, but had an odd emotionless sound, and she got up, trembling slightly out of relief.

"My Lord, the girl refuses to respond to anything we present her. The officers report that all she has said to anyone is that she wouldn't want to be them in a short while." The crone paused to catch her breath. "All of the usual methods have been tried, but still no response. What are your orders, sire?" A long moment passed before the man answered.

"Submit her to the Room." He said slowly. "It has broken every inhabitant thus far; I am confident that it will not let me down this time. Report back to me in two days." Having obviously been dismissed, the crone bowed again, though not quite so deeply, and backed away like that, leaning heavily on her warped oak stick. Once outside the throne room, she turned and hurried as fast as she could go to the room where the auburn haired girl was being kept.

-A week ago-

(Tori's POV)

When I woke up, the first thing I noticed was the hard surface beneath me and how chilled my body was. Sitting up slowly, I blinked a few times before I realized what I was seeing. I was in a prison cell. It explained why I was so stiff and cold, but suddenly, that didn't matter so much any more.

Looking around, I saw that the cell was pretty bare. There was a narrow horizontal window near the ceiling, but when I tried to reach it, I realized that it was at least a foot out of reach. The heavy wooden door proved to be effectively locked from the outside with a large padlock and wooden bars. The hinges of the door, I noticed, were on my side, meaning the door would open into the cell. I was sure that this had some importance, but I couldn't for the life of me think of what it could be.

Sighing, I sat down against the wall opposite the door. It didn't look like I'd be getting out of here anytime soon, anyway, so I might as well conserve my strength. Regarding the rectangle of light let in by the window, I let my mind drift back to the others, still at the mansion. I hoped they were all right, that the demons hadn't killed them. Closing my eyes, I willed for sleep to claim me.

-Present-

I came directly awake as I heard the familiar clink of the guard's keys as he came down the corridor to my cell. Silently, I wondered what they wanted me to do this time. I knew they were trying to get me to change into Kaminari, but I had no idea as to why they thought they could. After all, if I didn't know, then how could they?

The lock on the door gave a sharp clang as it fell open and the door slowly creaked inwards. In the block of light, I could make out the form of the captain of the guard as well as another, smaller figure behind him. Armed with a long cord, he strode confidently into the cell and proceeded to tie my hands behind my back. I didn't bother protesting. I'd seen what had happened to one of the other prisoners when they had resisted and had decided not to invite that same fate upon myself. Standing up, I stumbled awkwardly after him as he dragged me out of the cell. Blinking in the harsher light, I glanced surreptitiously at the other person.

It was an ancient crone, her face hidden by a myriad of wrinkles. She leaned heavily on a wooden staff twice as tall as she herself was. Her matted dark gray hair was long and tied back into an untidy queue and her emerald eyes peered out from under heavy eyebrows that matched her hair. I wasn't given any more opportunity to study her though, because the guard shoved me down the hall.

Startled, I was dully surprised to see that it was the opposite direction that I had been led before. This time, instead of going up a flight of stairs, I was led down one into a dank smelly hallway. Passing by one room that led off the hallway, I caught a glimpse of what was going inside. A young man--or maybe it was a demon; I couldn't tell the difference—was stretched out on a coarse board with his arms and legs stretched out to their furthest reach and then some. As I watched, a hooded man next to the guy pulled a lever and the victim yelled out in pain, a blood-curdling scream that sent a chill up and down my spine. Other rooms weren't occupied, but I could see the instruments set out as if they were just waiting for their next use, the blood from the previous time not yet washed off.

Disturbed and suddenly fearful for my own fate, I averted my eyes from the gruesome scenes and studied the floor instead. It wasn't until I was stopped rather forcefully that I dared to look up. We had come to a closed door with a complex lock on it. As I watched, the crone stepped forward and pulled a ring of keys from under her robe. Inserting one of the keys into the lock, she twisted it and the entire she-bang pulled back, leaving the door bare. The crone pushed on it and it slid silently into the wall. I was guided into the room and they untied my hands. Turning, I watched as they left, the crone pausing to look back at me before she exited.

"Have fun, girlie." She said in a gravelly voice. "We'll be back in a day or so to check on ye, but 'till den, don't be looking fer any visitors. This room'll be yer home for that time. I'm sure ye'll have enough fun without us, tho'. See ya!"

The door clanged shut, leaving me in complete darkness. For a moment, it was silent, my ears still ringing. Then the horrors started.

(Kaminari's POV)

I woke up with a pounding headache. Groaning, I sat up as the door on the opposite side of the chamber opened. Torches, bright as the sun to my sensitive eyes illuminated a tall figure there. Shading my eyes, I watched warily as he stepped into the room. For a moment we studied each other, then he reached out, hesitantly.

"Kaminari…?" His voice was deep, but it contained a slight tremor, as if he was hoping he was right. Somehow, it didn't sound right, coming from him. I drew myself up as regally as I could, given the circumstances.

"Yes, it is I. I demand to know what is going on, where I am, and why I have been treated so." I purposely put a commanding tone in my voice, hoping to hide the tremors of weakness and pain as my head pounded with every word I spoke. I saw the man bow.

"Of course, milady." He snapped his fingers and one of the guards came in quickly, holding two of the torches and bringing light to the room. The man was revealed as a very tall demon, his eyes yellow and hair a blond-white. He half-smiled at me, and gestured at the door. "Perhaps we can have this discussion in a more comfortable setting…?" Now his tone was light and genial. Still, I could hear the underlying steel.

"That would be fine." I said, standing and sweeping past him like the royalty I was. There was no way I was going to let this guy show me up, even if he was the king of the three worlds, which I seriously doubted.

An hour later, I had refreshed myself and changed into a more appropriate attire and was seating myself in one of the high back chairs of a well-decorated room. The man I had met earlier was already seated across from me, with a low coffee table in between us.

He smiled at me, one of those smiles that never quite reach a person's eyes. I gave him a similar smile. "My lady, would you care for refreshments, he raised his hand to beckon an unseen servant.

"Thank you." I replied. "Some tea and small sandwiches would be fine." I kept my tone gracious; no sense in alienating this man too soon. He nodded and lowered his hand. I could only assume a servant had heard, since I had seen no one.

"While we wait, he continued, "Perhaps some introductions are in order." He smiled. "I am Lithis, Lord of the Eastern Makai and Commander of the Dark Hordes. Certainly you've heard of me?" The smile had stuck on his face the entire time and now he cocked his head slightly, as if to precipitate an answer. I obliged.

"I'm afraid not. But then again, I have been away for so long, I really don't know much of the recent news." I pretended slight embarrassment at my 'mistake'. "Oh, I'm so sorry. I should introduce myself properly. I am Kaminari, princess of the Dragon Clan. Perhaps you have heard of me…?" I imitated Lithis, cocking my head just slightly. His smile grew broader, almost reaching his eyes, but not quite.

"Actually, I have and it's the reason you're here." He leaned forward in earnest. "You see, I have been trying to take over the entire Makai, the Underworld and after that, the human world. Unfortunately, although my plan is flawless, I require a bit more of a…motivation as well as a tad bit more power. Being the best one qualified for the job, I have been seeking you out for the past twenty years. Sadly, all of my leads turned out to be false and I had just about given up hope when I found you. And you'll never believe where! You were with a group of humans and demons well known in the Makai recently. And, believe it or not, they are the Underworld's Spirit Detectives! Isn't that just ironic? Of course, you were in a different body and probably have no memory of it at all, but I swear to you, it's true."

"I see…" I said slowly, leaning back into my chair. The candlelight glinted off something and I looked down to see a tray of tea and sandwiches set out on the table. Helping myself, I sipped at the tea, finding it warm and sweet, just how I liked it. The sandwiches were also expertly made and beautifully arranged. When I had finished one of the sandwiches, I turned my attention back to Lithis. "So, you are saying that you rescued me from what would most certainly have led to my doom if they had found out who I was." He nodded.

"And here's the great part!" He said excitedly. "When I first came to get you, they protected you, calling you Kiku! Can you believe that? I'm still psyched over it!"

"Rich indeed." I said softly. Apparently, Lithis was not a particularly observant demon. My voice had gone several degrees cooler and he hadn't noticed. Absentmindedly, I compared him to Hiei or Kurama. Either one of them would have recognized the signs of impending danger and would have gone to all out lengths to prevent it. This demon "lord" was adding fuel to the fire. "Now, perhaps you would tell me where we are…?"

"Oh, of course. We are in my castle, in the Devil's Fingers."

(Li's POV)

I sat down next to Hiei where the fire demon was looking out of the window over the forest. For a moment, I said nothing, but then I sighed.

"I'm sorry, Hiei." He glanced at me before returning his attention to the window in silence. I grimaced. Ever since he had burst out with the news that he had located Kaminari two days ago, things had become chaotic and nothing was getting done very quickly, much less a full-out retrieval mission. "Koenma tells me that he should have a course planned for us by this evening, though, so we can begin packing tomorrow. I'm sorry."

With that, I stood up and left, knowing that my presence was causing him more distress than he was letting on. As I started to pull the door closed behind me, I heard him say something and paused to hear it.

"She won't be there for long." He said quietly, still not looking away from the window. "That demon doesn't know what he's got himself into." With that, he fell silent and I left after a moment, shutting the door behind me quietly.

The next morning, I rolled over in my bed, expecting to see Kurama lying there next to me. When I found the bed empty, I propped myself up and blinked down sleepily. On his pillow was a note, hastily written in his handwriting. I sighed and reached over to pick it up.

_Li, Hiei's gone missing, or so Yusuke informed me this morning. I tried to wake you but you refused to wake up, so I let you be. If you need us or want to know where we are, use the communication device Koenma gave you. It's sitting on the dresser._

_Love, Kurama_

I sighed again and rolled back over the other way. Across the room, I could see the surface of the dresser. The small black communicator was sitting next to a slim vase that held a single red rose. I smiled, unable to stay mad at Kurama for long.

Getting up, I quickly dressed and took a shower. As I finished drying my hair, I went over to stand in front of the dresser, staring at my reflection in the mirror. For the first time, I realized that my hair now reached the small of my back and that I seemed to have grown about two inches since the Chikara incident two years ago. Shoving that thought out of my head, I focused on getting ready. Quickly pinning my hair up in a messy bun, I picked up the communicator. Pushing the large button on its side, I kept it held down as I spoke to it.

"Hello? Is anyone there?" A moment later, Botan's voice answered me, sounding harried and tired.

"Li? Oh, thank goodness! Can you come help us? I'm afraid we're not getting very far in finding Hiei." She said through the static.

"Sure. Where are you?"

"We've managed to track him to the Piccalla Creek, but now even Kurama's lost the trail." I bit my lip for a second before I answered.

"Okay. I'll be right there." I let the communicator go dead and, pocketing it, I strode out of my room, down the hall and the flight of stairs to the living room. Going straight to the bookshelf, I quickly located what I wanted and turned back around, calling up a portal to where the others were.

It was time to keep my promise to Hiei.

* * *

A/N: Those of you who read _Roses for a Queen_ will recognize that last bit, mostly because it's a direct copy from the epilogue. In case any of you were a bit confused with the whole imprisonment thing what with the changing POVs, I shall now explain. It's all in the present except for the slight flashback to when Tori was first captured. If that doesn't relieve your confusion, ask me directly about your issue with it.

Past that, just be watching for the next chapter, though since I'm going to Disneyland next week (I'm leaving on Saturday) there probably won't be more than one or two more unless I do a double posting...

Haliaetus


	10. Lithis

A/N: So we finally get to whatever it was that Li promised Hiei...oh, yeah. It was about the Fire Stone. But just what is this fabled object? What does it do? Why do I sound like a bad movie commentator? The answers to these and more will be revealed...

Seriously, though, we finally do get to see what the Fire Stone is in this chapter, though the full extent of its powers will not be revealed for quite a while.

Disclaimer still applies. Do I own YuYu Hakusho? No. I rest my case.

* * *

-Two days later-

(Hiei's POV)

I stared at Li's back as she paused on the ridge to survey the mountains on the horizon. I still wasn't sure I believed what had happened. Two days ago, she had suddenly appeared where I had set up camp with everyone else and had proceeded to turn everything upside down. She had somehow persuaded the others to leave and go back to the mansion and even Yusuke and Kuwabara had agreed. Then, without explanation, she had taken me on a journey in the opposite direction I had been going.

Now, I resolved to get to the bottom of this matter. She took a deep breath before starting down the hill, but I reached out and snagged her sleeve, catching her attention. She stopped and turned to look at me, her expression showing me only curiosity.

"Yes, Hiei? What can I do for you?"

"You can give me an explanation." I replied shortly. "What's going on and why are you taking me to the Sakachi Mountains?"

She hesitated, then nodded. "Very well. I will give you an explanation. But--" She suddenly grinned. "Not until we get where I'm taking you."

I sighed. There was no sense in talking to her now; all she'd do would be to avoid my questions. Grimacing, I reached down and hoisted the heavy pack onto my shoulder. We started down the hill and something occurred to me.

"Hey, Li? We want to get there soon, right? So why don't you make a portal? It'd save us a whole lot of walking." The taller girl stopped dead and turned to me with a dumbfounded expression on her face.

"You know what? I had totally forgotten about my being able to do that. Well, no use crying over spilt milk, as they say. Still, we would take at least another three days to get where we're going if we walked versus the four seconds it takes to walk through a portal. Good idea, Hiei." So saying, she turned back around, summoned a portal and gestured me through it. I just shook my head and trudged through it, not quite knowing what to expect.

A few seconds after I emerged from the portal, I heard it close and felt Li come up next to me. I didn't look at her, however, my attention being held by what I was seeing.

All around me were stone walls, but not made of just any stone. The pale red rock was a rare type of stone called flame quartz and I had never seen so much in one place. The walls were those of a large cave, spacious enough for twelve people to stand fingertip to fingertip across it and thirty people long. We had come in at one end: at the other, a long silver table was placed. On it was a single item, a rough-hewn wooden cup. There was something in it, but I couldn't tell what it was. Curious, I started to go closer, but Li's hand on my arm arrested me. I glanced over my shoulder at her.

"Not yet." She said quietly. "I need to explain." I nodded, understanding. She took a deep breath and began.

"Do you remember two years ago when you asked for my help finding that one thing?" It took me a moment, but at last I remembered. I nodded again. "Well, since then, I've looked it up and done a little research. What I've found is that the Guide was not meant to be a tool to find it, but rather a stepping stone. Since you asked, I have prepared everything you'll need to get that item.

"That cup is the vertex of all of the powers that will be used. Before you look in it, though, I want to warn you. In my research, I've found out something about the item, but in finding out about it, I in turn swore to secrecy about it, except with those who already know. All I can do is warn you that that item won't work like you think it will. In fact, there is a good chance that you won't even survive the contact. I only brought you here because I think that you have what it takes to survive, if you'll only find what you need."

She paused and then finished simply. "You may go ahead, now. Good luck." I studied her face for a long moment before turning back to the table and the strange cup on it.

Her expression hadn't been too encouraging, but I couldn't see what was all that dangerous about the cup. Looking down into the cup, I saw that it held a coal, about as big as my fist. The coal was live and seemed to be pulsing gently, like a heart. Li's voice echoed off the quartz walls.

"Pick it up." I reached down and closed my hand around the pulsing coal. Surprisingly, it wasn't as hot as I'd expected. Thrown off guard, I was startled when the cave around me began to swirl and disappear. Then everything went black and I remembered no more.

-Three days later-

(Kaminari's POV)

I couldn't stand it anymore. If that idiot Lithis tried just one more time to make me laugh, I was going to decapitate him with my bare hands. For the past few days, I had been 'entertained' by my host, the self-proclaimed Lord Lithis. As I watched him attempt to juggle, I allowed myself to space out, letting my mind wander.

Somehow, it landed on the subject of Hiei. I was just about positive of Tori's feelings towards the fire demon, but Hiei's feelings towards her were unfathomable. Plus, he wasn't here to ask.

Just then, there was a disturbance at the entrance to the hall we were currently in. From what I could gather from the voices that drifted down the hall, there was someone trying to get in the hall without permission. Then there was a bright flash of red light and the voices ceased. Lithis stood up and strode down the hall to investigate with me right behind him. I was curious to know what was going on and who was there.

As we neared the doors leading into the hall, I began to make out a figure in the doorway. For a moment, I didn't recognize who it was, but then I did and I nearly fainted with relief.

_Hiei!_ Hiei had come! As relieved as I was to see him, I couldn't help but worry about his safety. After all, Lithis had proven himself to be a powerful demon and I wasn't sure if Hiei was up to fighting him and winning. Then I noticed the odd aura surrounding him and my happiness was replaced with confusion. How had his aura become so powerful in the few days I/Tori had been gone?

I held back as Lithis went to confront the shorter fire demon. No use in getting in the way and possibly getting hurt, at any rate.

(Hiei's POV)

I watched the tall demon stride towards me with confidence. Li had told me that his name was Lithis, but other than that, no one knew much about him except that he was trying to take over all three worlds. At twelve paces away, he stopped to regard me with contempt; he obviously thought I was beneath his station. Well, that would soon change.

"Who are you and what do you presume by coming in here uninvited?" He asked in a thundering voice meant to cast fear into his victim. I didn't bat an eyelid.

"My name is of no consequence to you, since you will shortly be dead and will have no need to know my name." He shrugged.

"Very well. I accept your challenge, but shouldn't I be informed as to the nature of the prize?" A slight smile tugged at the corners of his mouth, though his eyes remained cold and distant.

"Certainly. She is standing behind you." Lithis seemed disconcerted for a moment before turning slightly to regard Kaminari, who had been standing a short ways off the entire time. I allowed my gaze to flicker over to her before returning to the demon in front of me. He turned slowly back to me and now I could see a flame of fury smoldering in his eyes.

_That's right…get angry. It will only make your downfall all that much harder,_ I thought, smiling to myself.

"Well, then. Perhaps we might take this argument somewhere else, then. It certainly would not do if I won and my castle was abolished in the process."

I agreed. "That would be fine. I will see you in twenty minutes at the top of the Devil's Fingers, then. It's quite all right, I can show myself out." With that, I turned and walked away, not glancing back to see his reaction.

(Kaminari's POV)

Twenty minutes after Hiei had left the hall, I followed Lithis as he mounted the stairs in his castle that led to the top of the Devil's Fingers. He had been fitted out in his armor, an outfit similar to the one he had kidnapped Tori in.

As he mounted the stairs, he muttered to himself, low enough that I couldn't hear the distinct words but just loud enough that it was a constant buzz in my ears. Finally, though, we came to the top of the staircase and he stopped muttering long enough to shove the door open. It had been built for more normal sized people, so he had to bend nearly in half to get through while I only had to duck my head slightly.

Outside, I had to shade my eyes as they got used to the bright light of the Makai sun. After they had adjusted, I looked around in interest. It had been nearly four hundred years since I had last been here, when I had first met Hiei and fought him. Nothing major had changed, except that there was maybe a little more open space in a more bounded area. Looking out over the edge of the sheer cliff, I found I could see the Silent Forest, meaning we were on the north side of the rock formation known as Devil's Fingers.

Turning around, I appraised both of the combatants. Lithis seemed to not be affected much by the heat, but trudging up the stairs in his armor had taken a toll on him and I could see his chest heaving as he tried to catch his breath. Hiei, on the other hand, was obviously sweating, but he had spent the time in the shade, polishing his sword and putting a fresh edge on it. Looking back at Lithis with a curious eye, I noted that his weapons, although large and obviously lethal, were actually rather dull. I supposed he thought his strength would more than make up for the lack of keenness on his blades.

Hiei stood up then, and came to stand directly opposite Lithis. "Well, shall we get this over with then?" He said, fingering the hilt of his sheathed sword. Suddenly, seeing him there next to Lithis, I thought he looked much smaller than usual and I was afraid that he wouldn't be able to beat the tall demon. Lithis laughed, a hollow sound that echoed off the rock.

"Indeed, my little friend. Indeed we shall." With that he lunged forward with impossible speed, his scythe making a bright arc as it sliced the air towards Hiei. But the fire demon was no longer there. Silently, he drew his sword and slashed downwards from his position on top of the tall demon's back. Lithis bellowed with pain and twirled around, sending Hiei flying off to hit the rock face twenty yards away.

When the dust had settled, I was surprised to not see Hiei once more. Then Lithis bellowed again and I realized that the fire demon had pulled the same trick again. Now Lithis was bleeding freely from the two gashes in his back. They weren't near any vital spots and were shallow, so they would stop bleeding fairly quickly, but I'd have been ready to bet quite a bit that they stung terribly.

Huffing as he tried to catch his breath, Lithis regarded the small demon in front of him with eyes quickly glazing over in red battle lust. Suddenly, he lunged again, this time quicker than the previous time. Hiei was caught off guard and although he managed to avoid the brunt of the attack, the blade still caught him in the side, ripping a long gash that started bleeding immediately.

He stumbled away for a few yards, but he'd already lost too much blood. Tilting to one side, he let his body weight take him the rest of the way so that he was laying on his uninjured side, facing towards Lithis. I knew that if he didn't do something or if Lithis wasn't distracted, he would die at the hands of the towering demon. Lithis raised his scythe for the final blow.

* * *

A/N: Waah! Hiei's gonna diiiee!

Not really, but you never know with these things. And again, I'm using a non-traditiional Japanese name for a character. So sue me.

Y'know...there's been like no mindspeech for several chapters...well, that will be taken care of eventually, so don't worry. It was just something that I noticed.

I've finally gotten out of my creative slump (more or less) and will be working more on _The Fire Lord_, so you'll be able to read more sooner! Yay!

Haliaetus


	11. Gone

A/N: I'm back again, so here's the next chapter. We're getting really close to where I am in the story (typing wise) and when we get there, I'll let you know, because the chapters will be coming a lot slower and further in-between. Anyway, I had a blast at Disneyland/CAlifornia Adventure/Universal Studios, but I'm back and it's good to be home. Enjoy!

(And, yes, disclaimer still applies.)

* * *

(Hiei's POV)

I was down. There was no denying it. The gash in my side was bleeding too heavily and I'd already lost enough blood to make my vision start to go blurry.

I stared in awed fear as the large scythe swept towards me. There was no way I would be able to get away in time, injured as I was. Everything seemed to slow down, then I heard this odd ringing in my ears that drowned everything else out. In slow motion, I watched the long blade sliced through the air at my throat.

Suddenly, there was something in the way, blocking the scythe's path. Surprised, I realized it was Tori. What was she doing here? Kaminari was the one who was in charge right now! How had she gotten free?

Horrified, I watched the blade waver as Lithis hesitated, obviously realizing what she was doing, but the momentum carried it forward, stabbing deep into the girl's chest. I knew instantly it was fatal. Tori crumpled to the ground, still in slow motion, and I could only stare at her already lifeless form. Then everything sped up into a blur and later, I would remember nothing of what happened then.

(Li's POV)

No sound had disturbed the silence for five whole minutes now and I judged it safe to venture out from behind the rock outcrop I had been hiding behind after showing Hiei the front door of the castle.

To my surprise, I found both the two combatants as well as an auburn haired girl lying prone on the rock. There was a large pool of blood surrounding the three and I immediately began to look for signs of life. The first one I checked was Hiei, since he was closest to me. As I knelt down next to him, regardless of the blood staining my pants, I looked for signs that he was still breathing.

To my relief, he was, but it was faint and the reason quickly became apparent as I examined him further. He had suffered a long and deep gash in his side and it was still bleeding sluggishly. Tearing strips of cloth from my cloak, I bandaged it as best I could before moving on to the others.

The tall, fair-haired demon was dead, not even a flicker of life still in him, so I moved past him to the girl. She had landed on her front, so I couldn't see her face. Rolling her over, though, I received the worst shock imaginable.

Tori's amber-blue eyes stared back at me in lifeless silence, their final expression unreadable. Looking further, I saw the deep wound in the center of her chest and the scythe lying a few feet away, its tip still bloody. Shocked into numbness, I reached out and gently closed her eyes.

A quiet noise brought me to full alert. I wasn't alone on the top of the Devil's Fingers. Casting a quick glance around me, I verified that the other wasn't yet to the cleared area where I was, meaning I had time to hide. Hurriedly, I squeezed into a small nook in the rock and wove a Concealment around me, making it seem as if I was just one more outcrop of stone in a wall of similar outcrops.

Scarce five seconds later, a figure came around an outcrop of rock and I was hard pressed to remain calm. Surprisingly unremarkable for a criminal mastermind, Vermilion was the one demon I just couldn't deal with. Uneasy, I watched as he walked over to examine the three forms lying on the sandy ground. For a long moment, he just looked at them. Then he shook his head and muttered aloud.

"Lithis, you idiot." His voice was neutral, with light inflection and an odd tendency to stretch out the vowels. Bending over, he placed a single finger on the other demon's forehead. Instantly, he burst into flame, his flesh rapidly reduced to fine ash. Vermilion's expression and voice didn't change as he watched the bonfire. "I advised you not to do it. But once again, you let that impulsiveness of yours get the better of you and now you've paid the final price. It really is a pity." Now he raised his voice, almost as if he knew I was there and he wanted me to hear him. "Of course, there are others like you out there and it's a simple matter to gain their trust and cooperation." He paused and when he spoke again, I could hear the smile in his voice. "Isn't that right…Li-Sanya?"

Half-surprised, but having known that I could never conceal my presence from him completely, I let the Concealment dissipate and stood up, showing myself for what I was, my long golden hair whispering about me in the breeze that suddenly picked up. Vermilion turned around to regard me and I found myself looking into a pair of dead, lead colored eyes, offset by his immaculate crimson hair from which he derived his name. Despite the remarkable hair and chilling eyes, his was a face that you could forget a moment after meeting him. Completely average in every other way, he certainly didn't look the part of a criminal mastermind that had eluded capture for nearly 100,000 years. His lips curved in a slight smile.

"Were these others your friends? Is that why you're here?" His questions seemed perfectly reasonable, but I could hear the mocking undertone that told me that he already knew the answers and didn't care one iota as to what I felt about it. "I certainly hope they're not both dead; it would be a shame to end this game so early on. But that is of no consequence at the moment." His voice hardened just a touch. "What I really want to know is what Kaminari is doing alive and why she is with the Spirit Detectives instead of with her own kind."

I frowned, slightly offended by his word choice. "Think of it as a kind of reincarnation." I said, not quite believing that I had dredged up enough courage to talk to him. "The girl has no memory of being Kaminari, though the demoness known by that name still lives on within her. The Spirit Detective brought in the girl and she had chosen to stay with us, though we were putting forth effort to channel her power so that she could use it to a degree close to her previous control. Already, she had shown considerable progress. Besides, she is among her own kind, though I doubt that was precisely what you meant." I stopped to take a deep breath. Just being around this guy made my nerves jumpy and I could feel a bead of sweat sliding down the back of my neck. Where were the others? As long as I was the only one there, Vermilion would stick around, but as soon as he detected someone else he'd vanish and I'd never get any answers out of him. "Now, answer some of my questions. What is your goal, using Lithis to attack the Underworld?"

Vermilion chuckled, a sound that sent a chill up and down my spine. "Simply a distraction, my dear. This simpleton would never have succeeded at taking over the Underworld. No, my real goal is much larger. But I am taking too much of your time and the fire demon doesn't have much left. Until we meet again, then, my dear." I blinked and in that instant, he was gone. Sighing, I went over to stand next to the unconscious form of Hiei and the limp body of Tori. Summoning a portal, I waited a moment then moved out of the way. A second after I moved, several forms stumbled through.

When the last person had come through, I turned to look at my companions. Yusuke, Kuwabara and Botan were looking around, trying to figure out where they were. Kurama was walking towards me with a worried expression, while Niseka was already kneeling next to Hiei, a pale green aura surrounding her hands.

When Kurama had gotten close enough, I buried my head in his shoulder, feeling his arms wrap around me. Suddenly exhausted and feeling emotionally drained, I let the tears begin to leak out.

"She's dead, Kurama. She's dead and he's almost dead. And it's _him_ behind it. Lithis wasn't the real threat, it was _him_. What do we do?" Kurama gave me a squeeze and replied in a soft voice.

"We'll think of something. We usually do when something like this happens. Don't worry about it." His voice calmed me and I was able to control my tears. Pulling away, I looked to where Niseka was healing Hiei. Already, the gash in his side was much smaller and some of the color had returned to his face. A moment later, the fox demoness stood up, wiping her bloodstained hands on her shirt.

"Well, I've done what I can." She said, sounding weary. "I'm afraid he'll need rest and about a week more for full recovery, but he won't die, at any rate." She glanced at me. "However, that wound should have killed him much sooner than this. Why didn't it, Li?"

I bit my lip, debating whether to tell them now or not. Finally, I compromised. "I'll tell you when we get back to the mansion." I said. "For now, let's just get them back." Everyone nodded and we carefully carried the two through the portal I summoned.

As the portal closed behind me, I wondered to myself what Vermilion's presence meant. What did he want?

(Hiei's POV)

When I came back to my senses, I found myself in my room, staring up at the ceiling. For a moment, I was disoriented. Then I remembered. Sitting up quickly, I began to swing myself out of bed, but was stopped by a pair of strong hands. Kurama gently pushed me back onto the bed, his expression pained. I looked at him, wanting to ask, but unable to say the words.

He saw and sighed as he sat down heavily on the edge of the bed. "Hiei, I'm sorry. There was nothing we could do when we got there. Even Niseka is powerless against death."

My throat was tight and I had to struggle to get my voice to work. "What happened after that?" I asked, trying to penetrate to darkness after seeing Tori fall. Kurama took a deep breath, then expelled it.

"I think it would be easier to show you rather than tell you, but I wasn't there, so I'm afraid I can't do that for you." He said. "However, Li says it has something to do with a Stone. She hasn't said anything specific, says she's going to wait for you so she only has to tell it once, but she's dropped hints about it fusing with you to increase your power. Ring a bell?"

I was dumbfounded.

There was only one thing that could have done that. The Fire Stone. Well, at least I knew Li hadn't been lying when she had told me that the absorption had been successful. I closed my eyes and matched what Kurama had said to my knowledge. Yes, there were enough coinciding facts; it had been the Stone. Something occurred to me and I quickly did an analysis of myself.

It wasn't there. The Stone's power wasn't there anymore. Had I used up all of its power or what? Well, there was no use fretting about what I couldn't control; I'd ask Li later.

Then I thought of something else. I opened my eyes and looked at Kurama intently. He had been sitting silently, waiting for me to say something. "Where is she?" I asked in a low voice. "Where's Tori?"

Taking the stairs three at a time, I slammed the living room door open. Everyone else was gathered in there, around a low table with a shrouded form on it. Li looked up as I came in, but the others were too far-gone in their grief to pay any attention. Kurama came in behind me and shut the door more gently. Slowly, silently, I walked over to the low table. Knowing what I'd find, but still hoping it wasn't true, I lifted the black cloth.

Tori's expression was peaceful, her eyes closed. Someone, probably Li, had dressed her in a clean outfit, one I didn't recognize. If it hadn't been for the unnatural stillness and the dark stain on the bodice of the dress, she might have just been sleeping. Unable to bear the sight of her lifeless body, I replaced the cloth and turned to look at the others.

The humans were all grouped together, along with Yukina, on one side of the room. Opposite them were Niseka, Shiki, Kugo and Toya, also grouped together. Li and Kurama were sharing a chair near the door. The only person missing was Botan.

Just as I thought this, the door opened and admitted the girl. She looked like she'd been crying recently, but her face was remarkably composed. I assumed she'd been to see Koenma and briefly wondered how the judge of the dead was taking Tori's death. I wasn't given any more time to dwell on the matter, however, because Botan walked over to me and quietly asked me to follow her. Nodding mutely, I followed as she led me out of the room and down several halls. Finally, we stopped in a small room that was rarely used by us.

As soon as the door closed behind me, she collapsed into one of the overstuffed chairs. I leaned against the wall and looked at her, mildly curious as to what she wanted. For a moment, she simply sat there, her eyes closed and her expression pained. Just as I was about to shake her to get her attention, she sighed and sat up, opening her eyes.

"Hiei, Koenma told me to tell you something." She bit her lip before proceeding. "There may be a chance to bring Tori back, but it's very slim and the risks are tremendous."

I regarded her solemnly. "Botan. I'd do anything to get her back. No risk is too large." She nodded.

"I thought you'd say that." She sighed and pulled something out of a pocket. "Here, take this." I held out my hand and she dropped a pendant on a chain into my palm. Examining it, I saw that it was a piece of flame quartz. Suddenly reminded of the cave where I'd found the Fire Stone, I looked up at Botan, waiting for the explanation.

"All you have to do is look into it and make your wish." The girl said softly. "You will then be transported to a place where your wish can come true. Whether or not it does is completely uncontrollable; you'll just have to do your best."

"So all I do is wish?" She nodded and I looked down at the pendant again. _Tori…_Gazing into the stone's depths, I made my wish.

* * *

A/N: Aaaannnd...cliff-hanger. Which means you'll have to wait until the next chapter to find out what happens. Poor Hiei, though...

Anyway, I hope to hear from people!!! (That's a major hint-hint there, by the way, since there were none while I was gone.) I love to hear from my readers and honestly, if I don't get any support, I may just drop _The Fire Lord_. Major apologies to those who don't want it to go bye-bye, but I'm serious here. Without a reason to continue it, I won't.

Haliaetus


	12. Ressurection

A/N: Less of me talking now...Also, this is the end of what I have typed. It didn't take as long as I had expected to reach this point, but here we are, so I guess that's just how it is. Any suggestions are welcome, but please note that unless I recieve acknowledgment that _someone_ knows I still exist, there will be no continuation of this story. Please understand that this is simply because without an audience, I have little desire to continue with something that I wrote a while ago and have only recently picked up again. Thank you to those of you who supported this in its early stages, as well as sorry for the cut off. If it wasn't necessary, I wouldn't even think to do it, but what with school starting again soon and other factors, it's becoming a bit more of a liability. So I guess for now at least, this is good bye.

Disclaimer still applies.

* * *

(Tori's POV)

I was surrounded by clouds.

That was my first thought as I opened my eyes. Sitting up, I looked around, but met nothing but clouds in any direction. Confused, I tried to remember what had happened.

There was something about a demon, a sword and…it slipped away and I tried again. Fire and a pair of red eyes…this one too, faded before I could get a clear picture. I found that it happened every time I tried to remember, so I decided to just try to figure out where I was and worry about my memory later.

Standing, I realized that my clothes were gone. On the heels of that thought came another. It didn't matter if I was naked or not; no one was around to see me. Something caught my eye and I twisted my head to look over my shoulder. Met with a translucent and shimmering wing that was nearly invisible, I looked over the other shoulder and found the same thing. Focusing, I watched as the wings beat at the air. Fascinated, I didn't even question where they had come from.

I was so caught up in my new wings that I didn't notice the figure approaching through the mists until they were only a few feet away. Startled, I jumped back, away from them. Looking at the stranger, I found that he seemed hauntingly familiar.

He was dressed all in black, as if in mourning, except for a white collar and his hair was also black, except for a single white starburst over his forehead. The most prominent feature, however, was his eyes. The color of blood, they seemed to see right through me.

"Who are you?" My voice sounded unnaturally loud in the perfect stillness and silence of the place I was in. The boy seemed a bit pained at my question, but didn't open his mouth to answer.

_My name is Hiei_. He said, though I didn't hear an actual voice. It was more like I had heard him in my mind. I stepped toward him, curious.

"How'd you do that? Speak in my mind, I mean." I said, tapping the side of my head. He blinked, apparently not expecting the question.

"It's called telepathy." He said aloud, his voice a deep tenor. I found I liked the sound of his voice and stepped forward again.

"Why are you here, Hiei?" Looking in his eyes, I could see conflicting emotions, though none were mirrored in his expression. He took a deep breath.

"I've come to take you back. You're dead, but I can bring you back to life." His voice was also devoid of emotion and I wondered why he was so dispassionate.

"I'm dead?" I frowned, confused. "I seem alive enough to me. Why would I be dead?"

His eyes left mine and I saw pain flicker across his face. When he answered, I had to strain to hear his words. "I saw you die." He whispered. I blinked several times, wondering whether he was telling the truth or not.

Before I could respond, I heard a noise from behind me and turned around to look. Hiei also looked past me at what had made the noise—

--And gasped. Surrounded by a nimbus of soft light, the Buddha was hard to make out. Although I got the feeling of great and terrible power, I wasn't scared. I walked forward, wondering why He was here. Then He spoke, not in an audible voice, or in my head like Hiei, but He spoke nonetheless.

_**Do you wish to come with me or go back with him?**_

Somehow, I knew He was speaking to me and I was being given a choice. The appearance of the Buddha had banished all doubts that I was actually dead, as Hiei had told me and I knew that when He asked if I wanted to come with Him it meant going to heaven. Still…I glanced back at Hiei, several paces behind me. He was watching me and there was something in his eyes that pulled at my heart, but I couldn't for the life of me recall what it was….

Suddenly, I remembered who he was, what he was and everything else, leading up to my death. Gasping slightly, I pressed a hand to my forehead even though I didn't have a headache. I closed my eyes to compose myself. When I opened them again, I looked at Hiei, torn between going to heaven and returning with him.

Turning back to the patiently waiting Amida, I opened my mouth. "If I go back, when I die again, will I still be able to go to heaven?" I asked, hoping the answer was yes.

**_Heaven will always be open to you, Tori Kaminari. If you choose to go back you do not forfeit your chance to go to heaven._**

I smiled then, and partially turned back to Hiei. "I choose to go back, then."

**_Very well…_**

There was a flash of blinding light and the Amida was gone, leaving me alone with Hiei. Abruptly, I remembered that I didn't have anything on and glanced down in embarrassment. For a moment, I stared at my feet before understanding what I was seeing. I was fully clothed in the outfit I had been wearing when I died though there wasn't a bloodstain on it. Slowly, I lifted my gaze to meet Hiei's eyes. He was staring at me in disbelief, as if he couldn't quite believe I had chosen to go back with him instead of go to heaven.

Walking forward, I paused a pace in front of him, still staring into his eyes. "Hiei…I…" I stopped. I couldn't say it because of the emotion welling up in my throat. Then he leaned forward and I didn't need to speak at all; his lips on mine were all the words we needed. Around us, the clouds began to dissipate.

(Hiei's POV)

When I opened my eyes, I found Botan staring at me intently, a worried expression on her face. When she saw that I was "back" even though I had never physically left the room, she pulled away, looking relieved.

"Did it work?" Her voice mirrored her expression. I nodded.

"Yes, it did. Thank the binky-sucking guy for me, would ya? I have something I need to attend to."

She smiled. "Of course. Go right ahead and don't worry about a thing, I'll take care of it."

"Thanks." With that, I stood up and left the room, headed for the living room…and Tori.

(Tori's POV)

When I opened my eyes, I realized that the clouds had disappeared, replaced with a solid blackness. Then the cloth covering me was pulled away and I had to blink at the sudden light. Above me, I could hear Hiei's voice raised above the others as he tried to explain what had happened. Groaning slightly, I sat up and looked around.

I was sitting on a low table in the living room and everyone was grouped around me, all of them talking at once. Blinking as my eyes adjusted to the lighting, I began to make out faces and hear what was being said.

Hiei was standing off to my right, talking to Li and Kurama, both of which were looking a little doubtful. In front of me, the two human boys, Niseka, Kugo and Shiki were all trying to talk over each other, making one heck of a din. To my left and slightly behind me, Toya and the two human girls were standing quietly, staring at me with slight frowns, as if they weren't quite sure what was going on.

Turning my attention back to Hiei, Kurama and Li, I tried to get their attention, not bothering to raise my voice due to the already high level of noise in the room. Hiei glanced at me and nodded, giving me the sign for just a minute. Li and Kurama glanced at me as well, but frowned more deeply and turned back to Hiei almost immediately, asking him something I didn't hear. The fire demon frowned back and said something sharply, apparently confused by something. Leading them over to where I was sitting, he looked straight at me.

_Tori?_ His voice was inside my head and I realized that it had been a while since I had last heard him speak to me in that way, not counting when I had been dead.

_Yeah? What's wrong, Hiei?_

He sighed and frowned as he sat down on the edge of the table. _I don't know. Li and Kurama are saying that they can't see you: that you've vanished somehow. Yet I can see you and talk to you. I don't understand it._

_Hmm. You don't suppose it has anything to do with the Buddha, do you? I mean, he did say I could go back, but he never said anything about me actually being alive…_ Hiei's eyes widened as he came to the same conclusion I had.

_That would explain it…_ For a moment he was silent and I was aware of Li and Kurama's gazes as they watched him, waiting for him to explain. _Tori, try to talk to Li or Kurama. I want to know if I'm the only one that can see and hear you._

_Okay… _Frowning slightly, I focused on talking to Li. _Li? Can you hear me?_ I saw her eyes widen and she looked around, apparently trying to find whoever was speaking to her. _Li, it's me, Tori._ Slowly, she turned back to regard me, or to her perspective, the space I was occupying.

_Tori? You're really alive?_ Her mind-voice was wrought with disbelief and I could see the doubt in her eyes.

_Not exactly. I was dead, but Hiei came and I was given the choice of going to heaven or coming back by the Buddha himself. I chose to come back, but apparently, I didn't come back to life, per se. I can talk to people, though, through telepathy. I don't know if anyone besides Hiei can see me, but I don't suppose that really matters. I wonder, though…do I have a substantial body, or am I a ghost?_

_Hmm. Let's see…_ Suddenly, without warning, Li stretched out a hand and swiped it through the area I was occupying, startling both Hiei and I. Half expecting her hand to stop at my skin, I was surprised when it passed right through me.

_Well, that answers that question_. She said, matter-of-factly. Turning, she quietly relayed what had been going on to Kurama, who was still standing there looking lost.

While this had been happening, the others had moved out of the room, leaving the four of us alone. Li and Kurama finished talking and the cat demoness stood up and walked over to the bookcase along the wall. Pulling a book out, she brought it back over, sitting next to me on the table. Looking at the book, I realized I recognized the red leather cover and the gold embossed, curving script. Opening the Guide, Li flipped to a page that, as before, looked blank to me. She read for a moment, then looked up, her face once again contorted in a frown.

"That's weird…" She said aloud, her voice quiet. We frowned as well.

"What's weird?" Kurama asked. Hiei didn't say anything, but I could see the same question in his eyes.

"The Guide says she's dead." Her voice was still quiet, with a tone of disbelief, as if she couldn't quite come to terms with it. "It even has the correct date and time."

Kurama's eyes started to widen as he understood what she was saying. "Then, you mean…?" She nodded. "So, how…?" Li shrugged.

"I don't know. You don't suppose _he_ had anything to do with it, do you?" Kurama shook his head sharply.

"No. Great though _his_ powers may be, _he_ doesn't have power over the dead. At least not in this sense. I think this is just a quirk of the Buddha's. You can ask Koenma when we see him again."

Hiei butted into the conversation. "Or we could go see him right now." He said tersely. The other two looked at him for a long moment, then nodded. I frowned as they stood up.

"Hey! Where does that leave me?" I said aloud. Only Hiei seemed to have heard me, since he was the only one who paused.

"I'm pretty sure ghosts and spirits and the like can pass through portals." He said finally. "I guess you'll just have to try your luck." He seemed rather upset that he couldn't do more for me and I felt bad for having brought this predicament upon them. Reaching out, I gently brushed my fingers against his cheek, forgetting that he wouldn't be able to feel me.

Then I realized I was feeling warm flesh under my fingertips and I snatched my hand back as if it had been burned. Hiei stared at me for a moment, his hand reaching up to touch where my fingers had been.

"I felt that…" His voice was low, almost as if he was talking to himself. "But…then why couldn't Li?"

I shrugged, still a little startled. "I don't know, but at least it takes care of the problem of me going through the portal; I'll just go through with you." Slipping off the table, I seized his arm in a vise-like grip, not at all willing to let go until we had passed through the portal. A moment later, we stepped through the brightly colored swirl that Li had conjured. As I passed through, I felt a sharp jolt somewhere in my abdominal region, as if my stomach had just done about a dozen flip-flops, and then we were in Koenma's office. Li followed us through (Kurama had gone first) and the portal closed.

Koenma looked up from his desk with a frown. Seeing us, his frown deepened. "What's going on?" He asked. Abruptly, he seemed to realize something and turned slightly to look straight at me. "Tori? You're alive?"

I shook my head. "Not exactly. So far, you and Hiei are the only ones who can see me." He scowled even more and turned to Hiei.

"Hiei, what's she saying? I can see her mouth moving, but there's no sound." Hiei relayed what I had said along with a more detailed explanation and the toddler ruler leaned back in his chair, nodding thoughtfully. "That sounds like the Buddha to me. Always having the last laugh. Still, it doesn't quite explain why Hiei is the only one who can see, feel and hear you like you're living."

I shrugged. To tell the truth, I didn't know either, but I had a suspicion. Of course, I would never say it out loud, even if Hiei was the only one who could hear me. Actually, that would make it all the more embarrassing if I did.

Feeling someone staring at me and I glanced around to find out who it was and found a pair of crimson eyes not even a foot from my face. Startled, I pulled back, unconsciously loosening my grip on his arm, which I still held for some reason. He blinked and I thought I saw the barest hint of a smile at the corners of his mouth, but then it disappeared and I dismissed it as a figment of my imagination. For no apparent reason, the kiss he had given me just before I had returned to the realm of the living popped into my head and I blushed, looking away to hide it. Koenma gave me an odd glance, but I didn't notice it, being too occupied with avoiding Hiei's gaze.

While this had been going on, Kurama and Li had been filling Koenma in on the smaller details and were just about finished. Saying goodbye, Li pulled up another portal and Kurama went through first again. I re-established my grip on Hiei as we walked through the portal again. Once again, I was preoccupied with something else and didn't notice the colors solidify into a deep red, the color of blood. I think Li must have seen it, because she cried out, but it was too late, we were through.

We came out of the portal in a place so obviously not the human world or the mansion that my first reaction was to clutch at Hiei even tighter. He scowled and glanced down at me, belatedly realizing our surroundings.

All around us was a pale red rock, almost rose granite, but more dusty. We were standing in a small clearing of the boulders and beyond them, I could see a small stand of sickly looking trees that I couldn't identify. Beyond those, the ground became sand and stretched as far as I could see, blending into the yellowish sky at the indefinite horizon.

"What the…" Hiei trailed off as he caught sight of something else. Glancing up at him, I looked in the same direction and felt a chill pass over me. Against one of the boulders, a figure could be seen, a darker section in the shadows. My fingers dug into Hiei's arm as the hair on my arms and on the back of my neck stood on end. The fire demon glanced down at me briefly, but turned back almost immediately to the figure. "Show yourself, if you're not too cowardly to do so." He called out, his voice full of bravado. Maybe it was my imagination, but the figure seemed to laugh before stepping out into the weak sunlight.

"Is that any way to speak to the demon who's ordered the deaths of countless beings and killed even more? I don't think so." His voice was oddly neutral, with no inflection what so ever. In the sunlight, I could see his flaming hair, oddly reminiscent of Kugo's, and the dead, lead colored eyes. Beyond that, the appearance of the demon was so much like a businessman, right down to the perfect part and immaculate coiffure, that I was finding it hard to be afraid of him. Beside, me, Hiei seemed taken aback.

"Who are you?" He asked, frowning. The other demon stopped about ten paces away and crossed his arms.

"My name is Vermilion. I'd ask who you are, but I already know, Hiei Jaganshi. I see you have brought Miss Kaminari as well, though to tell the truth, she does not quite seem herself. Those eyes for one…" He trailed off and I found myself blushing from the sudden scrutiny.

"What business do you have with us?" Hiei asked, his harsh voice breaking through my embarrassment and the awkward moment. Vermilion looked back at him, a trace of annoyance flitting across his face.

"I want Kaminari to help me take over all three worlds." He answered matter-of-factly. "She's the only other demon who even approaches my power. Not even Li-Sanya, for all her tricks and fireworks, holds a candle to my power. Lithis failed to bring her to me, so I decided to take matters into my own hands. Now, I'll be taking her with me, so unless you want to die, I'd advise you don't interfere."

He stepped forward, looking at me again. I spent a moment trying to gather up enough courage to talk to him. "What if…What if I don't want to go with you?" I asked, my voice squeaking a little with my fear. Vermilion stopped in surprise, obviously not expecting that response.

"I'm afraid you don't have a choice, dear." His voice had hardened and there was a glint of something in his eyes that I didn't like the look of. He stepped forward again, reaching a hand out to me. By now, he was only a few feet away and his hand was less than a foot from my face. Hiei was off to my side, apparently unable to do anything.

My fear was close to the panic level and I stared at the demon, feeling repulsed by the dead eyes that bored into mine. My greatest wish right then was that he would never touch me. As if in response, my hand moved of its own accord, coming up to slap his away. Once more, he stopped in surprise, looking at his hand as if it had suddenly turned into a viper. There was a red welt where I had hit it and the redness was quickly spreading across his hand and up his arm. Vermilion didn't look happy with it and he glared at me as he retreated.

"I won't forget this, Kaminari. You may have a few tricks up your sleeve, but you will never be able to defeat me. I'll be back. You just go on home with your little fire demon and wait for me." A portal appeared behind him, the swirling area the same shade of red as his hair, and he disappeared into it, the portal collapsing a second later.

For a moment, there was silence. Then my fear finally got a foothold and I sat down hard, sobbing silently. Warm arms wrapped around me and I turned, burying my face in Hiei's shoulder. It seemed like an eternity that I spent crying, but when I finally stopped, the lighting hadn't changed and everything looked the same.

Hiei didn't say anything, but pushed something on his wrist. A moment later, another portal appeared, this one looking normal. Li-Sanya came through a second later, a very worried look on her face. Quickly, she bustled both of us back through the portal and into the living room of the mansion. Everything seemed a little removed from where I was, so I just let things happen and eventually found myself up in my room, where I lay down on my bed without taking off my clothes and fell asleep immediately, totally exhausted.


	13. Vermilion

A/N: Holy crap it's been a while. I actually got some inspiration to continue this story a bit, so here's what I've got so far. Hope you guys like it and don't want to kill me for taking so long. It's short, but I figured you guys would be happy with just about anything, so here it is.

Enjoy!

* * *

The next morning came quicker than I wanted it to and when I woke up, I immediately rolled over with a groan and tried to go back to sleep. This, of course, proved impossible since I had somehow managed to move in my sleep so that I was right next to the edge of the bed and I happened to pick the wrong direction to roll, resulting in me falling off the bed with a rather loud thump.

Someone must have been waiting to hear signs that I was still alive (although, technically, I wasn't), since almost immediately the door opened.

"Tori?" Hiei's voice sounded worried, but I couldn't see his face from where I was currently sprawled on the floor on the opposite side of the bed.

"I'm…I'm fine." I told him, wrestling with my covers to gain a semblance of dignity before standing. "I fell off the bed." I offered by way of explanation, straightening my rumpled shirt as much as possible, considering I'd slept in it.

The fire demon's face took on a visible look of relief. "Oh, okay. Breakfast is ready if you want something to eat."

"That would be…" I trailed off as I remembered that I wasn't exactly alive anymore. "Um…_can_ I eat?"

Hiei seemed to have forgotten the same thing and his face fell as he remembered. "I don't know. We might as well find out, though."

Downstairs, everyone seemed a bit down in the dumps and I frowned slightly, trying to remember if we'd told them I wasn't exactly dead anymore. That didn't seem to be the issue, though, as I learned a few moments later.

Li and Kurama shared a glance that said more than I wanted to read into it when they saw Hiei enter the room. "Is Tori here?" Li asked him, reasserting that she still couldn't see me. He nodded, sending a quick querying glance in her direction that she deflected with a small shake of her head and the mouthed words 'Not now.'

"Good." I switched my attention to Kurama, who had spoken. "As soon as we're done with breakfast, we'll be going to see Koenma. There's something that we need to tell him and everyone needs to know, too. So eat quickly."

Willingly, we fell to the food. I discovered, to my joy, that I _could_ eat and I enjoyed seeing the others' faces when they realized that there had been five biscuits left, not four, just a moment ago and no one visible was eating one.

Breakfast was finished in record time (which is saying a lot, considering how fast Yusuke and Kuwabara eat) and we cleaned up before Li opened a portal to Koenma's office. We filed through and the portal collapsed behind us just as the toddler ruler looked up from the latest batch of paperwork.

"Hmm? What is it now?" He asked in a distracted manner, absently scrawling his signature on several more sheets and pushing them off to the side.

Li stepped forward, holding out a piece of paper I hadn't noticed before. "I found this note this morning, pinned to the front door. Read it."

Koenma frowned as he took stock of Li's serious expression and the way Kurama was shifting uncomfortably. Taking the note from her, he turned his attention to the paper and started to read. As his eyes scanned down, I saw his expression go from confused to startled to almost fearful. Finally, he looked back up at Li.

"How can this be?" He whispered, seeking reassurance from the cat demoness. Li didn't look like she had much to offer.

"How doesn't matter so much as the why." She replied. "We knew he was going to come back someday. That day has come sooner than we expected, is all. He wants Kaminari—that much is plain in the note—and he will do anything he can to have her. Is there anything we can do to prevent it?"

Koenma's eyes slid from the note to Li to me and back to Li again. Taking a deep breath, he let it out again in a sigh. "Not that I can think of right now." He admitted finally. "I will have my agents look into the matter and I will get back to you when I have anything even remotely looking like an answer. I suggest you do the same."

Li and Kurama nodded, as if they had expected an answer like that. "Very well." The cat demoness said, taking back the note. "We'll be in touch."

She opened a portal and we all filed back through it into the mansion. When it finally collapsed behind us, she was faced with the questioning stares of everyone else, except for Kurama, who presumably knew what was going on. The fox demon simply took up a position behind her where he could see us and support Li at the same time.

The silver-haired girl sighed and leaned back against the counter. "I'm afraid that there is quite a bit that Koenma, Kurama and I have not been telling you guys and it's past time that you knew."

Niseka opened her mouth to ask a question, but Li held her hand up to forestall any interruptions.

"Listen to me and ask questions later." She said and the healer shut her mouth.

Taking a deep breath, she held up the note she was still holding. "This note was found this morning stuck to the front door with a dagger." Kurama held up the mentioned weapon and we all glanced at it before returning our attention to Li. "It was written by a demon known as Vermilion. He's one of the most powerful demons to ever exist and up until now he has been trapped in an alternate dimension to prevent him from accomplishing his goal."

Kurama picked up the thread. "He attempted to take over all three realms nearly eight thousand years ago and if he hadn't made a mistake, he would have succeeded."

(Li's POV)

I looked around the room, noting everybody's reactions. My four old teammates didn't look too shocked, but I could tell that they were shaken by the announcement, Shiki most of all. Yusuke, Kuwabara and the girls were a bit more obvious in their reactions. The Spirit Detective and the orange-haired human looked like they had been given too much information to understand right away, as did Keiko and Yukina. Botan didn't look too fazed, but since she was Koenma's assistant, I guess she had reason not to be. Hiei's expression didn't change, but I could see the barest tightening of the skin around his eyes. Tori I couldn't see, but the tension and worry I could feel along the mental link was enough to give me an idea.

Judging that I had given them enough time to absorb this new information, I spoke up again. "There is not enough time to tell you all of his deeds, but suffice it to be known that he was and still is one the most powerful demons to ever walk the earth. More powerful than Hiei, Kurama and I combined and not even Koenma has the power or resources to fully stop him. We knew that sealing him in an alternate dimension wouldn't solve the problem indefinitely, but we had hoped that it would give us some more time to come up with a more permanent solution.

"We are now out of time and it is impossible to know what he will do next. This note tells us that he wants Kaminari in order to finish what he began so long ago, but nothing more. That is what we are now going to try to figure out more about that goal and do what we can to prevent it from happening."

Yusuke held up a hand almost hesitantly. I nodded at him. "Yes, Yusuke?"

"Uh, yeah. About that. How are we going to stop this what's-his-name if he's so powerful?"

I sighed. "A good question. That is also something we hope to find out."

"So what do we do until then?" Kugo asked, frowning at me.

Sighing again, I met each of their gazes in turn. "We wait. We wait until Koenma can come up with something or something else happens."

(Shiki's POV)

It had taken me a couple of days to fully appreciate this new development, but now I was ready to start asking questions. There was a fair amount of stuff that Li and Kurama hadn't told us and I had the oddest feeling that I knew more about this Vermilion than I thought I knew.

Tracking down Li-Sanya wasn't too hard, since we had been laying low and not doing much, but getting her alone so I could talk to her was a bit harder. It took a few tries before I managed to corner her in the library.

"Li? Could I talk to you?" I asked from the doorway. She looked up, seemingly startled at my presence, but nodded readily enough.

"Sure. What do need?" she replied, setting down the volume she'd picked up and taking a seat in one of the chairs. I copied her, settling slightly into the cushions as I quickly thought about how I wanted to present this.

"Well," I began, "I'm sure you could guess that I wanted to talk further about this whole mess with Vermilion." She nodded, so I continued, "I wanted to ask…"

"Just spit it out, Shiki," Li said as I trailed off, a bit embarrassed to be asking this. I took a deep breath and did so.

"I think I know more about him than I should, but I can't think of why or how. Besides that, why does he want Tori and who is he exactly and—"

"Whoa!" Li laughed, holding up her hands to stop me. "That's a lot of heavy questions! Tell you what, how about I answer those and then you an see if you have anything else you need answering when I'm done, okay?"

"Okay," I agreed. Li's smile disappeared as she thought for a moment. Then she leaned forward and began to talk in an earnest voice.

"Alright. First question. I'll start with why you think you know more about him than you should. Do you remember...I guess it was a couple of weeks ago, when I found you in the living room?"

I nodded. "Vaguely."

"Well, you asked me then who Vermilion was."

"Right," I nodded again, more emphatically. "You said you didn't know who he was. But you just said earlier…"

She smiled ruefully and shrugged. "I didn't want you to worry about anything until you had to. Besides, I didn't know he was behind all this then. Anyway, the reason you were in the living room in the first place was because I showed you something in Jesa's Guide."

"The book?" I asked.

"The book," she confirmed. "I presume you had a vision, but I don't know what of, except you somehow came away with some knowledge of Vermilion. My guess is that that's how you think you know more."

I took a moment to process that. "I see," I said at length. "So, what does he want with Tori?"

"Well," she sighed, running a hand through her long hair. "That's a bit of a more complex answer. I guess it really started a really long time ago in the Makai…"

I leaned forward unconsciously, as if I could better hear and understand what Li was telling me by doing so.


End file.
